Shanghai's Sideswipe
by xisanamii
Summary: Revamped from old account! One food delivery will change Meixing's experience of the world forever. After an uncanny encounter in Shanghai, curiosity drove the Chinese girl to submit herself to her grades completely in order to snag an opportunity to become a foreign exchange student in America. And there, perhaps the reunion she's awaited may finally come true. (Sideswipe/OC)
1. Chapter 1

hiya guys, it's been five years. not sure if any of my old readers are here... but in any case, thank you for taking the time to click on this little story!

just for a note, this chapter everyone is speaking in chinese. italics will be english. then after that, it'll be switched since things will be taking place in america. there was a LOT of plotholes in the previous version, and after growing as a writer, i hope to do better with meixing and her development!

... oh, but just a note, "xiao jie" does literally translate to something similar to "small big sister", commonly used to address the young women/girls out of politeness and such (or use meimei), and the reason why i kept it in pin yin form is because... well, translating some stuff from chinese to english loses its meaning sometimes. if he just called her "small big sister" that would be... strange. this word is one of those words. this is part of the problem i have with english, but eh, what can one do. i am taiwanese, so... yeah, i know some stuff. sorta. i'm basically the reverse of meixing tho rip

anyway, this is revamped and moved from my old account~ feel free to leave concrit! and any comments are greatly appreciated!

do i still have to do disclaimers? it's been so long. uhh i don't own transformers nor will i ever in the future.

* * *

Chapter One

Meixing delivers food, per usual, but sees something that definitely should be a result of having bad shrimp.

* * *

Lifting the plastic bag to the elder quietly, Meixing offers a small smile to ease his seemingly startled figure. Shanghai, though always bustling with noise, seemed to be just a tad more loud tonight. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in the distance and the people of the neighborhood were getting restless. But because they were far away and the Chinese youth prioritized her work first, deliveries still had to be made.

"I hope you have a good night," she says complacently. The elder's weary eyes soften and he takes the bag from her.

"Thank you, _**xiao jie**_. Return home safely." She bows in response to the other's concern before the door closes firmly. Meixing crosses off his name from her notepad, noting that there were no more deliveries for the night and it was finally time for her to go home. Helping her parents out with the restaurant was rough, but since she was still a high school student, the least she could do to support her family was by making deliveries. It was highly convenient that electric scooters were considered bicycles here, so with her bicycle license, she didn't have to illegally drive it anymore.

She sighs, seating herself quietly and starting up the scooter. "Aiyah, it's another late night. I wonder if I can get my homework done in time."

That is, if she would get home safely in order to do her homework. Because just as those words left her mouth, one silver blur... and then three colored blurs crashed through the apartment she was just at. She blinks once before surprise expresses itself vividly on her sharp features. Though a good majority of Chinese neighborhoods ignored whatever strife was in their vicinity, Meixing's presence there and the fact that she was still young causes her to stick her nose in other people's business sometimes.

"Sir! Sir, are you alright?" She rushes to the hole in the wall, and relief replaces fear when she sees the elder, sitting at his table with his food, wrinkled eyes widened to the size of plates.

"... _**Xiao jie**_ , did you see that? Those were metal aliens."

"... sir?" Did Father put something strange in the shrimp? That had to be it. After telling the elder that he should remember to call someone in the morning, Meixing smiles wryly and excuses herself, settling on her scooter again.

Then, she tilts her head. Perhaps it is because of his old age that he had mistaken cars for aliens... but? Curiosity flickers in her brown hues before she starts up the scooter and drives off in the opposite direction of where home was-

\- To where she had seen the motorcycles and silver blur go.

"Mother will be very angry," she sighs to herself. Because Meixing was an only child, her family was quite protective over her. Helping the restaurant with deliveries is by the influence of her Father, and even if there was a risk fo not being "safe"... if she could help the business and bring money in, they usually had no complaints. Neither did she, in that case. They would pay for her education anyway, so it was just a matter of choosing where to go.

Of course, these thoughts flee her mind immediately when she hears the roar of an engine. In her mirrors, she takes note of a car accelerating towards _her_. Her eyes widen and in panic, she moves to the side so that the driver would drive past her- and she had no such luck. It continued driving, _in her direction_ it seemed, and she let out a startled screech just as the car suddenly split in half.

Correction: it got cut in half by something else.

Meixing slams on her brakes immediately- she'd be damned if she kept on driving and collided with wherever the destroyed car was going- but scooters... don't really go that fast. When they collide with a large bump in the road, however, they do launch petite Chinese girls into the air and onto the ground. It wasn't really a high arch, thus the fall wasn't dangerous, but when she collided with the ground she could only let out a curse and sit up, glaring at whoever was responsible.

" _Damn, I'm good~_ "

"Hey! I'll sue you!" Her voice, shrill with anger and fear, rang out throughout the street. There was the destroyed silver car and a-

 ** _... Was that a metal alien?_**

Their eyes met, glowing blue against brown. Her mouth was agape and she was quite torn between yelling at it for not catching her and running away, in case she was next. Silence filled the air between them, but it seemed as if the metal being was even more wary than her. It was as if he was apprehensive and displeased to see her.

" _A human saw me..._ " It spoke English, but Meixing could only understand bits of it. She didn't study English too much- it may have been a course in high school, but she was better at reading and writing it since memorization wasn't difficult.

"Who are you?" Her voice, shaky in tone, traveled to the other. She gripped her arm, bruised from her fall, and tilted her head up, defensive yet curious. "Will you kill me next?" Mother- where was her Mother? Her Father? If she called them, maybe they could rescue her. She was scared, she wanted to cry and run away, but her legs refused to move. Was she going to die? Couldn't she at least leave a will before she did?

"I'm Sideswipe. A, uh... protector?" The metal... _thing_ replies back- in Chinese? It had spoken in English earlier, how strange; she hadn't expected for something like it to be bilingual. Its words were hesitant, as if it didn't know what to say. It made small movements towards her, as if it wanted to grab her, but also paused, as if it didn't. " **Rude**. We don't kill for fun. We're the ones who protect you small humans-" And then it pauses. Meixing frowns and scoots farther away, her back hitting the wall behind her.

"Who... is _we_?" Her eyes glance towards the car he had destroyed. Was that... the same thing as it? But this one is more antsy now, glancing from her to the distant city. As if... it was debating between something.

" _Slag, everyone's busy. What do I do?_ " It began pacing on its wheels, and suddenly it very much reminded her of the times when she was debating on whether or not she should enter a class late. The action is surprisingly _human_ of it, despite it towering over her significantly. She finds herself relaxing despite the situation she was in right now. " _Do I take her with me? She saw me and that Decepticon, so it should be Optimus that decides what to do with her. But I have to fight more- ughhhh._ "

Meixing blinks curiously. What was it saying? It wasn't making any move to hurt her, like it had said... so was it really harmless- well, harmless wasn't the word. It had destroyed something, and those blades on its arms were certainly not there for show. Suddenly, it turns to her.

"Can you keep a secret?" It says to her urgently now. Its attention causes her to yelp and retreat further into the wall, if it were possible. "I don't have time to deal with you-" She pales at the use of the word. "- and my allies need me, so I'm gonna go fight now. Don't tell anyone or-" It pauses. "It'll be dangerous. Okay. Crap, that's Optimus over the-!" And before she can respond, the metal alien transforms into a car and drives out to... _what?_

"..." Meixing blinks again, rubbing at her eyes and squinting in the distance. There was... another giant... alien? It was deeper in the city... but it was quite far away, so it wouldn't be reaching here anytime soon. "The wind... is quite strong tonight." The youth rises to her feet unsteadily, exhaling and looking to where the one she had just met... Sideswipe, was it? A strange name, but for a... thing like that, it should be fitting.

After ensuring that her scooter was working and that the... car 'Sideswipe' destroyed wasn't going to move anymore, she picks up a white cloth with the strange insignia etched into it. It flew from the direction that Sideswipe went to, and though she never had gone sky-diving before... "A parachute, isn't it?" She squints at it. It... should be related to Sideswipe and what he was. Leaving it here would raise suspicion about it, so she'd take it with her. She's sure to hear about this in the news though- the motorcycles, this silver car... not exactly a discreet way of doing whatever it was they were doing, especially if it was supposed to be a secret.

"... Hmm. I think I know where I want to go for university now." The Chinese girls nods firmly. Though fear of these beings was still dominant, she had seen something that she was sure was supposed to be a secret. If she was the only one to know, then naturally she'd want to know more. If... being harmless was their claims, it would be okay if she knew more.

... She supposed being nosy would be her downfall one day though.


	2. Chapter 2

thank you so much for some of the attention y'all have given the first chapter ^^ i read all your reviews! however i get SUPER anxious responding so i generally don't reply to reviews unless you have a question ;v; but i really appreciate them! thank you! if y'all have any questions just lemme know! from now on, dialogue italics is chinese and regular is english~

btw, to clear things up for the future; i'm setting this basically a little bit after the events of the 2009 movie~ and? i'm not going to even glance at the events of the third movie. i still remember watching it and dying because of ironhide. sighs. it never happened. yeah, i'm one of those old timers who enjoyed sam/mikaela more too. when your first exposure to this fandom is when you're thirteen years old, you tend to not want to let go of certain attachments~ also i barely remember the third movie anyway so i wouldn't want to butcher anything ^^''

* * *

Chapter Two

Resting a day before classes start isn't an option. When Meixing wants something, she'll even buy kitten calendars to get it.

* * *

" _I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you, Mother._ " Meixing trails after the elder woman, small but absolutely terrifying when her temper was called into question. " _When I graduate, you will also have to trouble yourself more because of medical school..._ "

Lihua turns around and the youth halts in her rambling. Then, the elder smiles and shakes her head. " _Your father and I are getting old. Putting our attention to our dearest daughter is only natural._ " A pause. " _Although, for him to stay in China while his daughter is off in university on her own..._ "

Meixing laughs. " _It's fine, I'm an adult now. It's good that the business flourished during my last year of high school. It helped him send me here safely. I'm grateful to you and Father._ "

" _That's right, money is good. When you become a doctor, you will bring in a lot of money for us._ " Her mother nods firmly. " _We will also start the business here. America has plenty of opportunities for us. So do very well on your studies, Meimei._ " Her mother arches an eyebrow. " _Although, why are you so stiff when talking now? Americans address their parents with much more casualness. Give it a try._ "

Meixing falters at that. She had never considered the concept of a warm relationship. Familiarity was not one of her strong suits. "... Mama?" She's hesitant to speak English, especially since it was still choppy and had much more room for improvement. Lihua offers another smile and gives her daughter a pat on the head.

" _Then, I'll be off, Meimei._ " The elder opens the door to the car and settles herself in slowly. " _Do well in your studies. I cannot guarantee being able to visit often..._ "

The Chinese youth shakes her head violently. " _No no, focus on the business. I will be fine._ " She forces a smile. " _Drive safely..._ Mama."

" _Thank you, Meimei. Talk to you soon._ " Meixing steps away from the curb and waits for her mother to drive away from the campus before she releases a heavy sigh. She was an adult, yes, but dependency on her parents had ultimately been her downfall. Luckily, there should be many other transfer students that she may meet eventually. Her roommate, per Meixing's request on her application, should be able to speak Chinese as well. Her mother language was going to be her only comfort in this foreign land.

Her first class started tomorrow morning- maybe she should get some rest, despite it still being the afternoon. But... exploring the campus would also be a good idea, so that she would not be wandering around aimlessly in the days to come.

The petite Chinese nods firmly to herself and decides to visit the dorms in case her roommate arrived. It was a beautiful campus, and the student body here was quite energetic. It would be better if she could fit in than stand out. Although there seemed to be a good amount of diversity, she had heard that foreign exchange students usually attracted more attention than other students. Something... about money, she believed? It was true that the program wasn't cheap, especially since this was a supposed "Ivy League" school, but if these students could already afford to attend university, being a transfer shouldn't have mattered so much. Or foreign exchange- whatever it was they called people like her.

Meixing makes her way to her room, lightly knocking to see if there would be an answer. Seeing no response, she uses her key to open it and discovers her things untouched on the side of the room that she had chosen. The mooncakes her mother brought also remained where they were from their place on the desk. Meixing sighs and shakes her head, deciding to write a note in the event that her roommate would arrive when she left again.

Now where would she go...?

The youth is not all too fond of leaving the comfort of her room, but she grudgingly does so after she sticks the note atop the box of mooncakes. All students were required to settle in their dorms by the end of the day, and if her roommate was not here, Meixing already had a bad impression of her. It was horrible of her to do so- why should she judge someone she hadn't met? But punctuality was important. Shouldn't one arrive early rather than late? It was the best course of action. Of course, sometimes her parents had no qualms about arriving past a certain meeting time.

Sometimes Meixing truly wonders about her own morals, if they varied a bit from what her parents' morals was.

Deciding that she would be spending most of her time in the library, as Meixing had already created a profile of what kind of personality her roommate had, she makes her way to it. Though in the application, it said her roommate also preferred a quiet environment and slept at decently normal times... maybe it was unfair of Meixing to judge her so easily.

But, well, that was how she and a vast majority of her people were like. And to be honest, everyone was usually judgmental anyway. Why should she seem like the bad guy, in that case? (A bit self-righteous, that she is...)

A crumpled piece of paper slaps against her ankle, snapping the youth from her thoughts. Meixing leans over and unravels it, arching an eyebrow at the advertisement. Deciphering the letters comes much faster than being able to speak them, evidently. "Real... Effing... Deal?" Her gaze skims over the other key aspects. "Giant... alien robots?" Her eyes narrow in apprehension. It was a discarded piece of paper, obvious that no one paid attention to this sort of gimmick. But, if the website was real...

Meixing hastens her pace to the library, logging in whenever she ceased fumbling around the letters on the keyboard. Excitement rose up in her expression however- this was the first sign she had seen ever since she had landed in America. Though it was bad that this was going around. If she could find out more about who founded the website, she would have to find a way to shut their mouths about **_H_** **é** ** _ng P_** **à** ** _o_** and then get them to help her find-

 _Hey! Sorry about the inconvenience, but this website is currently inactive! No robot aliens that the government is trying to hide exist! Oh, but if you want kitten calendars, come to the Hamilton Hall at room 2331. We're almost sold out, so hurry~!_

 _\- Former CEO, Leo Spitz_

Disappointment and relief befalls the youth instantly. **_H_** **é** ** _ng P_** **à** ** _o_** had told her it was a secret, so she was glad that no one else seemed to know. But if that was her only clue to his whereabouts, then it was now a dead end, wasn't it? Still, it was weird how the founder of the website decided to give up the website... she wondered how old the paper was. Either he lacked conviction... or he, too, was told that it was to be a secret. The events that rained upon Shanghai about half a year ago spoke to the true secrecy of this matter- the government had covered it quite nicely. Terrorist attacks from an unknown group. It was quite interesting how they had masked the presence of the alien robots.

But anyway, that wasn't her current concern.

"Excuse me, where Hamilton Hall?" She asks the librarian. Bad English be damned- if she was going to lose hope now, then what did she work for the past half year? She kept a steady pace throughout campus, as it would be bad if she got pulled to the side for running- did they yell at students for running in college? Anyway, Hamilton Hall was an all-boys dormitory... but it should've been okay if she was just visiting.

Her knuckles raps the door of the room the site led her to, the harshness was unintentional, but she was unsure if anyone was going to be in their dorms at this time. She waits in agitated silence- she can hear voices arguing who should open the door- but finally the door creaks open and the tanned face of a young adult appears.

"Who are you?" He arches an eyebrow.

Meixing clears her throat. "I- my name Meixing. Saw your closed website. I have... questions." Another pause. "But would like to buy cat calendar." Already fumbling over her words- confidence in another language wasn't the highest currently, the Chinese youth hastily bows in order to show a semblance of formality.

"Oh!" He laughs and opens the door for the other, scrambling to another part of the room. Meixing stands in the hallway silently, pressing her fingers together awkwardly before the man reappears with a plethora of kitten calendars in his arms. "I'm Leo! We're doing a special on the calendars right now. Two for five dollars!"

Did she really want a calendar...? She sighs. Well, if she could get information in exchange for it, she supposed she would have to submit. "Alright. I buy this one... and that one." She hands Leo the money and in exchange, she receives calendars. Wonderful.

"Thank you for doing business with me! Come again!" He's in the middle of closing the door before Meixing immediately throws her foot in the doorway, halting the other in his action. Her lips are pressed tightly into a thin line as she gives the other a determined look.

"Wait." She said she had questions, didn't she? This proved he didn't really listen to what others had to say, so she knows she will have to be persistent.

Leo blinks, before he hesitates. "Whoa- wait, we just met, I know I'm a stud and all, but this is-"

She has no idea what he thinks she wants, but there's a feeling telling her that he's misinterpreting the reason for her forcefulness. "Tell me what you know." She presses a hand against the door, intent on forcing it open. "About **robot aliens**. You used to own website about it."

Then horror flashes upon his face and he's hastily trying to close the door, much to the dismay of her foot that was wedged between the door and the frame. "I know nothing! There's no robot aliens! It was all a... lie! Yeah, I just wanted attention! Bye now!"

Unfortunately, her posture is unstable and she has no chance of sending a kick to the other. With his bigger frame, she's shoved out of the doorway immediately and into the opposing wall, wincing as the collision knocks a breath out of her. When she realizes what had happened, she frowns deeply and rolls up her sleeve, placing the calendars on the floor.

" _What did you just do?_ " A hiss escapes the livid youth and she poses herself in an offensive position. If the angle and the force she jumped from was **right** , she had a good chance of kicking the door down despite her small frame. This... was definitely not _why_ her parents made her learn martial arts, but at least it was going to be useful for something. She ignores the male voices that seem to be arguing behind the door again- it was probably nothing.

Meixing inhales deeply and leaps forward, but halts immediately when the door opens and a different face appears. The sudden stop causes her to stumble and she falls forward, headbutting the young man in the process of trying to regain her balance.

"Aiyah!"

"Agh, shit!"

She falls onto her bottom, rubbing her head and hissing out curses in Chinese. When she tries to identify the newcomer, he's also rubbing his head and wincing, tears pricking the corner of his eyes. Their gazes meet and silence fills the tension in the air.

"..." She knows when it's time to withdraw. Grabbing the calendars and rising to her feet, albeit unsteadily, Meixing makes a run for it.

"Ugh- wait! You-" The man also attempts to give chase, but the headbutt earlier forces him to remain sprawled out on the floor. Meixing is also not spared from the pain, but as she was more experienced in handling attacks like that, she only trips at the end of the hallway, out of sight of Leo and his... it was most likely his roommate.

"That Leo man know." Meixing rubs her forehead, waiting for the pain to ease. "He know something. I will find what he know."

* * *

"Shouldn't you call that big guy-? Y'know, the big boss or whatever."

"I... we don't know for sure if she knows anything. She could have just saw your website and gotten curious. But I thought you deleted it already!"

"Well... I mean, I did a disclaimer and all. Said no alien robots existed. But I'm using it now to advertise my kitten calendars!"

"I can't believe you still have those... anyway, this is our problem. Er, mostly yours, but I guess mine since we're roommates... ugh."

"It'd be so much easier if we just told them so that they could deal with her themselves..."

"But what if she _really_ doesn't know? Then we'd just drag her into a war for nothing."

"... If you ask me, she looked ready for war when you opened the door."

"... She was going to attack the door, not me."


	3. Chapter 3

ahah i wasn't sure if by the end of this chapter i was rushing things, but i figured the third chapter was just about a good enough time to... introduce him. i'm not really sure how i should be pacing things lol there are characters that i can put in order to make this story more... slice of life? but i'm not sure if y'all would be interested in them ahah. note for sure though that as friendship is one of the genres for this fic, chapters will be oriented around these type of bonds. and then, of course, the main ship will also be slowly developing~

thank you for calling meixing adorable ^^ as her creator it does make me very elated to hear that~

* * *

Chapter Three

We briefly shift perspective to Leo and Sam, who exemplifies Meixing's persistence. After that, she just proves them right.

* * *

"You know, this reminds me of the first time I met you, Leo." Samuel Witwicky's voice is dry as he glances from the book in his hands to the Chinese girl sitting a few tables away. "When you showed me your website and talked about... you know, **that**. I basically had a heart attack and tried to throw you off completely."

Leo shrugs, adjusting the sunglasses perched atop his nose. "You were really fishy, I gotta admit. It sucks that the cream of my crop is gone, but..." He shudders at the memory of Egypt. "Yeesh, never wanna go into that again. Not really keen on being buddy-buddy with your buddies, but it's better than your buddies' enemies."

"This attempt at obscurity is really annoying." But Sam understood the necessity of it, so he doesn't comment further. Instead, his attention is redirected towards the reason that the two were in the library in the first place. "We've been tailing her, as much as we could anyway, for a few days. It doesn't seem like she knows anything more though. She could be harmless."

Leo cringes. "Excuse me, you weren't the one who was chased down the corridors by the tiny Asian woman."

"It's your fault for making that dumb website anyway. It's a good thing no one else paid attention to it, or else there'd be a lot of problems right now." The government had been doing an eerily excellent job of masking the existence of Cybertronians. It made Sam wonder what else they could be hiding, but for now, he had more prominent worries on his mind. "What did she ask anyway?"

He steals a glance towards the girl, who's deeply immersed in her studies. "She just asked me about my website. Why did I close it? Where did I get the information? I didn't answer any of her questions, obviously, but yeesh, she's **terrifying**." He leans closer to Sam. "You know, this is a bad idea after all. If she wanted to expose your buddies, wouldn't she have done it already? I mean, I know **I** would have before, but that's in the past. We can just leave her alone." He rubs his wrist subconsciously. "She knows kung fu or something. I don't wanna die in college, man."

Sam bites his lip and shakes his head. "But _how_ does she know? It's dangerous. This is for consideration of both sides, you know. Sure, there's the scary part of a security breach or whatever. But if she has some ties to us, she might be targeted. Or if she's on the other side..." Memories of the Decepticon Pretender come flooding back and Sam pales considerably. "Yeah, uh, this time I have a taser on me. So we're safe."

"Are you really sure? Because-" Leo's interrupted mid-sentence by a looming shadow. Both men look behind them to see the figure of the librarian, irritated yet pleasantly smiling.

"Excuse me boys. This is the library. Shut up or get out."

 **XxXx**

Meixing observes the two roommates forced out of the library unwillingly with narrowed eyes. Their attempts at secrecy were rather pathetic- practically everyone could hear the words of those two, given the quiet environment they were in. By their conversation though, it was quite clear to the Chinese youth.

They **both** knew something. Although she hadn't tuned into their entire conversation, as she really _had_ been focused on her work and only noticed the two when she overheard other students whispering about the inconsiderate heathens that shouldn't be talking in the library, she had heard quite enough of it. Now the problem was how would she go about getting information from them?

The youth pushes some of her black locks out of her eyes, frowning. It was obvious that secrets must be held, so going around them would be difficult. Just as those two had their secrets, she also had hers. If they clashed, then there wasn't going to be advancement on either side; it would be a stalemate, so to speak.

Ah, so this was where the problem of her lack of knowledge in the English language came into place. If she was more proficient, then perhaps she could use some persuasive words to get the information. Too bad they couldn't speak Chinese...

"Aiyah..." She sighs, closing her notebook and putting her materials away. "Doing this because **_H_** **é** ** _ng P_** **à** ** _o_** told me to keep secret. Is very hard." Now that she recalled it, she hadn't exactly promised the metal being anything. And yet, here she was, chasing fellow students down the halls in an attempt to keep its secret. It was embarrassing when one put it that way, and in some instances it could be said that she was losing face for her family. But... keeping a secret was important. And because the strange, metal alien had requested it, only to her as the sole witness of its actions that night... surely her parents would be proud of her. She would be keeping face in a more discreet way, of course.

She shuffles along, leaving the library with her head tilted towards the ground as she sinks herself in her thoughts. It was a very long shot, coming to America just to see **_H_** **é** ** _ng P_** **à** ** _o_** , and even now it was still a long shot. There were no signs of its existence here. The only lead she had was the former website, but even that was slowly starting to come to a dead end. Meixing... was alone in this. She couldn't confide in her roommate with this. She couldn't confide in her other acquaintances for this. Searching for the one who had revealed to her another part of the world... was her mission alone, it seemed.

"It be okay," she reassures herself, suddenly lifting her head up in determination. "I will find. Do not look down on conviction-!"

"Hey, what are you doing?! Look out!"

Meixing whips her head around at the warning, which had came from someone a few meters away. Her eyes widened at the silver vehicle headed towards her at a frightening speed; flashbacks of that night in Shanghai has her rooted to the spot out of fear and the Chinese girl fixates her gaze on it, wondering if this would be her end.

Much to her fortune, the car had already slammed on its brakes. A hideous screech emulates from the harsh friction of its tires defying the pavement it drove on and her hands fly up to cover her ears in recoil. People are already starting to gather and their voices surround the Chinese girl.

"You idiot! Why'd you go out on the street?"

"Did she... try to kill herself?"

"No way..."

"How scary..."

Meixing frowns and rounds on all the people with a protest. It wouldn't look good for her family if they started talking about how their daughter seemed to try to kill herself in the first week of university. "No! Simply did not pay attention! Was not intentional!" However, the youth then glares at the vehicle, whose driver's door opens hastily. The driver seems to be torn between being angry or being worried- frankly, his anger should be unreasonable.

"You...!" Meixing jabs a finger at the taller man. "What you doing on school zone?! Driving fast is dangerous! Someone could be hurt!" Now that her fear had subsided, she figured it would be best to direct her own frustration at the one who had reignited such memories in the first place.

"You're the one who came out on the street!" He retorts, pushing her finger away. "If I hadn't hit my brakes, you would've been roadkill, human!" He winces. "Er, girl!"

Meixing huffs, folding her arms across her chest. "Speed limit is thirty! You drive eighty, at least!" Well, that was simply her guess. But judging by the tread marks in the pavement and her knowledge of physics, it would be reasonable to guess that number. "No need to hit brakes if not drive fast!"

"You could've moved! What were you doing, just standing there anyway?!"

"You go fast! Even if moved, might have been hit regardless!"

Spectators started to take sides. They saw logic in both arguments; she shouldn't have went out on the street and he shouldn't have been driving so fast in this area anyway. Although, as people started to notice the car the man drove, they were certainly more keen to take his side. Meixing scowls at the attention- this wasn't really what she wanted, and she turns on her heel to leave. She had to get back to her dorm to drop off her belongings before she could start tailing one of the two boys, after all.

" _Stupid rat,_ " she mutters. The driver pauses, his gaze brightens for a split second and he scowls at that. Suddenly, there's a vice-like grip on her forearm and she's jerked back from the sudden force.

" _What did you just call me?_ " Challenging blue meets surprised brown- she certainly had not expected for him to be able to understand Mandarin. She's all too aware of their closeness then. Her own father scarcely hugged her and her mother only hugged her whenever Meixing had done an excellent job in school.

And yet, here was a stranger, whose irritated face was half a foot away from her own and whose hand was pressing on her arm quite forcefully. It must be an American thing, one that Meixing isn't too sure she's all that fond of.

" _Are you going to hit me?_ " She responds flatly, glaring at him provocatively. His grip loosens and his smoldering gaze falters at that. She takes the opportunity to slip her arm from his grip and stretch it out, making sure she wasn't in his area of reach anymore. " _At least you have some decency. Well then, goodbye. I certainly doubt the school officials will allow a reckless driver to stay on campus any longer._ "

She can feel his piercing gaze on her back as she makes her way back to her dorm. Meixing presses a hand to her heart, willing it to calm down. She had almost died and she had talked back to a stranger- both of which she hadn't expected to occur today. Sure, she wasn't that special; she knew plenty of other Chinese women who would have been as defensive and mouthy as her, perhaps even more so. But still, it had scarcely been a week since she had arrived at this campus and she was already picking fights with people.

Hopefully she'd never see him again.

... But she had spoken too soon.

He is very much invading her personal bubble, she discovers with much displeasure, as he uses one arm to block one of her escape routes. His frame is larger than hers, though she suspects that if she were taller, this difference wouldn't have been so disadvantageous to her. He's certainly looking quite peeved, she notes from her position in the improvised human cage, and she wonders how he had managed to find her. It had only been a few hours since their encounter and this university was quite large.

Silence is placed between them, before he decides to speak.

"They think I did it on purpose." By the sounds of it, he had escaped whoever 'they' was. Most likely the school officials. He lifts a finger and jabs at her shoulder, mimicking the gesture she had thrown at him earlier. "I have a reason to be here so I can't leave. Besides, it wasn't my fault to begin with. So you're coming with me to get the story straight." As if he was used to things going his way- at least, it sounded like it did. That, or he normally forced for things to go his way. She wouldn't be surprised, honestly.

Meixing returns to him a blank look. "Why should I? I could sue you for attempted murder, yes?" Of course, she wouldn't go that far- that would be lying. But he was wasting her time and she needed to catch Leo again. Now was about the time he was going to leave class, so if she didn't escape this persistent man soon, her chance would be lost.

The man seems shocked at that. "Wh- attempted murder?! I just said I didn't do it on purpose!" He snaps back. " **Rude**! If you knew what I've been doing for you hu-" He shuts his mouth immediately, clearing his throat. "Er, I mean. I'm in the... military. I protect people like you. There's no reason for me to kill you."

She arches a skeptical eyebrow at that. "... Military? An undisciplined man like you?"

He huffs, frowning. "You call it undisciplined, but I'm just being free. I don't see why I have to be restricted. I'd rather have as much fun as possible. Being bound by every rule is... boring." Of course, he would obey his superiors when it was necessary. But as for restrictions in battle and playing pranks on certain soldiers? Nah, he'd wreck havoc whenever he wanted to. Their angry protests be damned.

Meixing pauses at that. Having as much fun as possible? But if there was no set of rules to follow, then how would order be kept? She needed restrictions to guide her. That was how she could live.

They both locked gazes then, contemplating what to do with each other. The man seems more intent on grabbing her and dragging her over on his whim, and she doesn't doubt that he'd be able to do so. However, the chances of her complying were less likely if he were to use force. He must know this, which is why he hasn't moved just yet.

Finally, Meixing decides to try and compromise.

"I need to find someone. Then I help you." Making her final decisions, she grabs the stranger's wrist, albeit with hesitance, and begins to drag him along with her. The man seems surprised- even a small yelp escapes, and he makes mild effort to dig his feet into the ground, as if he was deciding whether or not to go along with her. He also cringed at the touch, as if he either wasn't used to it like she was, or he was genuinely disgusted by the idea of someone like her touching him. "You know this better idea. Or else might not help you to get out of trouble." Then his protest does seem to dim, although he's definitely looking displeased by the turn of events. One could even say he was pouting.

However, it was good that he was wise enough to see the situation and analyze it. No matter how reckless and immature he seemed to be, she notes with underlying judgment.

Well, she didn't care. This was going to play in both their favors ultimately, so she figures he should just _quietly_ go along with her.

Quietly was ideal. He most certainly is not the quiet type of person at all.

"Who are you searching for anyway?" He asks. If he was going to be forced along this, he might as well be informed as to what he was getting himself into.

"None of concern." Though she could easily switch to Mandarin and he could do the same, her mother had told her to improve her English. Practice made perfect.

"I think it is, seeing as the longer you delay my innocence, the more in trouble I'll be in later," he retorts. Meixing pauses and relents.

"Name is Leo Spitz. I have question for him," she replies. The man stiffens at the name, recognizing it immediately.

"... What kind of question?"

"..." She shakes her head. "That is secret. I cannot tell, because I made promise." Meixing pauses. "Well, I think I made promise. Not sure. But will take it as promise." She finally stops pulling him and they stop in the hallway, a few feet away from where Leo's classroom was. Meixing turns to face him, finger pressed to her lips in a form of secrecy. "Target very slippery. Please do not get in way."

"I'm pretty sure this is what humans call stalking," he mutters, casting his gaze aside.

"Not know what you talk about. Stalking mean follow and harass. I only follow and ask question when he have free time," she replies back, arching an eyebrow. Sure, there was that one time she had gotten peeved and outright chased him, but he had insulted her family- _no one_ got away with insulting her family. Meixing was a very strong advocate of _filial piety_. She had been raised as such, after all.

"Sure, if you say so." Then he sighs and refocuses his eyes back on the smaller woman, before he blinks once, as if he is seeing her for the first time. As irritation is finally cleared from his vision, the oriental features of the Asian girl before him slowly settles in his mind. Before finally, recognition alarmed in his mind. Flashbacks of Shanghai and the _problem_ he had encountered are vivid. His mouth drops and a scrambled scream escapes his throat immediately, finger pointing at the other in mild accusation.

" _ **AHHHHHHH**_!"

If she wanted him to be quiet... well, it would be a long way until she actually got her wish.


	4. Chapter 4

ayyyy. i'm doing my best to update at least weekly and having chapters exceeding three thousand words~? here's hoping lol i don't want to be writing nonsense and boring my readers. anyway thank you all for the reception you've given the last chapter ^^ i've responded to reviews that appeared to have questions, so if y'all have any more, don't be afraid to leave it in ur review! i'll do my best to answer it to the best of my abilities!

i love you all 3

* * *

Chapter Four

She does not have an obsession for arms, they're just the most convenient thing to grab onto...

* * *

Hands shoot upwards to cover her ears at his scream, eyes widening in confusion as she takes a step back from his accusing finger. Lips part as if to question his sudden outburst, but for once, Meixing doesn't know what to ask. It's not that suddenly all her knowledge of the English language is gone, but it's that his eyes are practically _glowing_.

Captivating azure hues that stare at her in pure shock, as if he is recognizing her for the first time after being apart for a long time.

But she has only met him today, so she doesn't understand the look in his eyes.

"Wh-why you screaming?" She curses at herself for allowing her words to stutter. It's not that she's flustered, really, but she can't really concentrate when he's practically screaming in her ears.

Then he stops. He opens his mouth and closes it again, finger still pointed at her in accusation. He seems like he has many questions he wants to ask, but doesn't know where to start. An annoyed look crosses her features and she simply turns around to ignore him, since it doesn't seem like he'll be speaking anytime soon. The class Leo is in seems to be getting out late, she notes with irritation, as she leans against the wall.

And the man she has just met is still gaping at her like a fish out of water.

' _She... does she remember?_ ' Then he mentally slaps himself. ' _Well, duh, of course she remembers! Who forgets seeing a Cybertronian up close?!_ ' He presses a finger to his mouth, biting the nail in anxiousness (of course, since that body is not real, it doesn't have much of an effect). ' _That's why she's asking Leo... what does she want to ask though? She's not supposed to know about our human connections. Why does she want to know more? I don't get it. Does she want to expose us?_ '

"Leo!"

Immediately, all thoughts are broken. He snaps his gaze towards Meixing, who's sprinting after the aforementioned young adult that's leaving his classroom. Leo jumps and lets out a surprised yell, planning on breaking out into a run immediately.

But Leo glances behind Meixing and meets azure hues. He freezes immediately, giving Meixing an opportunity to latch onto his arm and dragging him over to the side.

"Please, do not run. Do not want to chase again," Meixing implores. She notices Leo's attention on her other companion and sighs. "Do not mind him. Just temporary acquaintance. Name is-" She halts, realizing that they had never introduced themselves to each other. "What is your name?" She asks, rounding on the brunet questioningly.

He stiffens, as does Leo.

"..." He rubs the back of his neck, exhaling softly. "Sean." A good enough human name, he figures after using the Internet as a resource yet again. "I have a nickname I'd prefer to go by though."

Leo's alarming look that's directed towards the other could be hilarious, if the circumstances weren't so dire in their eyes.

"Dude-"

"Sideswipe, or Sides. Take your pick." He's doing his best to be imposing, squaring his shoulders and making direct eye contact with Meixing. He's waiting for recognition to flash in those brown hues, or for shock to overtake those oriental features.

"Weird nickname. But sure, will call you by that if necessary," she shrugs and makes sure her grip is firm on Leo's arm. "My name is Meixing. Have no nickname, so call me Meixing is fine."

Sideswipe blinks once, taken aback by her response. Had she... not remembered after all? He's certain that he introduced himself in Shanghai- he may not have gotten her name back then, but being an advanced being, the memory is recorded in his processor just like a video. This isn't the wrong girl, he's sure of it; comparing the recording in his processor to the live girl in front of them, they were definitely the same person.

Leo seems to have visibly relaxed, though he's still trying to tug his arm free from Meixing. "Hey, _amiga_ , I told you that I don't know anything! Why do you keep on bothering me!"

Meixing rolls her eyes. "I heard you talk in library with friend. Is very clear both of you know more than you tell me." She shoots a glance at Sideswipe, who's still looking dumbfounded. "If not want to talk around stranger, can go to library or quieter place."

"I'm his friend," Leo cuts in, shooting Sideswipe a pleading look. ' _Don't leave me alone with her, she's scary.'_ "And I have nothing to hide! You must have misheard Sam and I!"

Unconvinced, but she does spare Sideswipe another glance. "You his friend?"

"That's what it seems like," he replies dryly. No, he wouldn't consider Leo a friend, especially since his guardians were those _twins_ that were practically the bane of Sideswipe's very existence. That wasn't Leo's fault, of course, but Sideswipe could be petty when he wanted to be. "Anyway, are you done asking him questions? You still have my innocence to prove."

"No," she retorts. "Does it sound like he answer my questions?" She turns her head towards the Hispanic male. "What do you know about robot aliens?!" She harshly whispers the last part, as if she doesn't want anyone else to hear.

"I don't know anything!"

Whatever relaxed sentiment Sideswipe had been feeling is replaced immediately with his initial wariness. So she _does_ know-? The fact that she's bugging Leo with that question is hard proof that she's very aware of the Cybertronian's existence on this planet. The fact that she doesn't seem to recognize his name doesn't really matter now- she has to be taken in for questioning.

Sideswipe reaches out, intent on grabbing her arm, but he's stopped by another pressing thought. Was it... necessary to do that? What if she didn't remember a lot about that night? That could be why she's interrogating Leo- it's because she doesn't remember that she's asking in order to get more information. If she doesn't know a lot, then she could still be kept away from this war.

If he could somehow twist her memories into thinking that night was a dream, it would have been a much more smoother process than this roundabout way of dodging the question, like Leo was doing.

"Then why you make website?"

Their arguing tugs Sideswipe from his thoughts again, and now he's torn between being amused at Leo's misfortune and being panicked at the fact that this girl still seems to remember that encounter in Shanghai so clearly.

"I thought it was a funny idea! How many times do I have to say this?!" Leo whines. "Aliens are everywhere, okay?! Movies, novels, Internet! They're just different types of myths!" Leo shoots Sideswipe a pitiful glance, telling the other to help him out of this situation.

Sideswipe pauses, as if contemplating his choices, then shakes his head with a wide grin. No, this is a version of his revenge on the twins. Plus, every time Leo does visit base, he's obnoxious and loud, in more or less words. Since Sideswipe couldn't harm humans, torturing them offhandedly is the next best way to go about it.

Meixing narrows her eyes. "They are everywhere. You right. And you must know where."

"You just totally ignored the last part of my sentence," Leo scowls. "Look, hypothetically speaking, even if I did know, why would you want to... well, know?!"

The Chinese girl blinks. That is the first time he's indulged her persistence, even if just slightly. "... I want to meet someone again."

Sideswipe hones in on her words immediately.

"I never got to thank it," she lowers the tone of her voice, aware of the area she's in right now. "And... if allowed, want to ask it questions. It sounded male, but best not to jump to conclusions. But that does not matter. It... saved my life." She smiles fondly at the memory, and Leo's quite perplexed to hear this story. So is Sideswipe, for that matter. His ego is being significantly boosted right now, and his cautious gaze is quickly brightening to that of prideful happiness.

"You just... want to thank him- er, it?" He catches himself on his words. "... I'm sure it knows that. It's their job to protect us, after all."

Leo realizes his mistake too late. Meixing is quick to latch onto those words and the grip on his arm is tightened significantly.

"So you do know."

"... Erk."

"Do not tell anyone," she says suddenly. "It... told me to keep secret. But because you know more about it, I think it be okay if I told you a little." She's being careful, despite her persistence. She has not given Leo any specifics nor did she plan to, even if he begged her.

Despite the fact that she's practically the one begging for more information.

"I don't know anything!" Leo repeats stubbornly.

"Meixing," Sideswipe finally cuts in, and the Chinese girl seems startled, as if she had forgotten he was there. The moment she turns her attention towards him, her grip loosens ever-so-slightly, but it's the opening that Leo needs to slips his arm from her grasp and sprint away from the pair.

"Ah!" Meixing frowns. "Look what you did..."

He lets out a short laugh, shaking his head. The animosity from before seems to have been replaced with something lighter. It's... better. Being able to laugh like this freely suited him more. "I don't think he was going to answer your questions anyway." He points out, folding his arms across his torso. "Leo can be pretty stubborn."

Meixing sighs. "I know. But is worth a try." She glances at him. "Well, you complied. So I will keep my part of deal now. Lead way to office." Was she going to give up? Well, not really, but she can save her interrogation for another time.

Sideswipe stuffs his hands into his pocket, beckoning her to follow him with a tilt of his head. She trudges after him slowly, seemingly deflated from her failure yet again. However, she's a bit curious as to why his initial hostility seems to have faded completely.

"You not yelling anymore," she says. "Earlier, you were very mad. Both at street and when found me after."

Sideswipe shrugs. "Well, I think anyone would be angry when someone just pops out in front of them while driving. I'm sure you heard how hard I slammed the brakes."

She considers his explanation and figures it makes enough sense. She can imagine her mother cursing in Chinese if some idiotic pedestrians forced her to brake when she was speeding down to somewhere.

... She guesses that makes her one of those idiotic pedestrians now.

"As for after..." His voice pulls her from her musings. "Well, I was pretty peeved about being stopped for that. Especially when it wasn't my fault." Meixing arches an eyebrow at him. "... Okay, not entirely my fault. If I got kicked off campus, my boss would be pretty displeased. I'm here for a reason, like I said, so letting some girl ruin that is not ideal."

"For what reason?" She questions.

"..." He coughs. "That's a secret."

Fair enough. Although, secrets are certainly becoming the norm around here, aren't they?

They walk the rest of the way in silence, though the fidgeting on Sideswipe's part gives Meixing an idea that he's curious and wants to ask her something. Her interaction with Leo had been a unique one, so she's almost certain it has to do with that, especially since they appeared to be friends with each other.

But she had made it clear that she wasn't going to indulge either of them with more information other than what she has already said, right? With a small nod to herself, she watches as Sideswipe opens the door to the security office, where two adults are sitting, seeming to anticipate their arrival.

"You ran away," one of them says flatly, giving Sideswipe a hard stare. "Should I call your boss now?"

Sideswipe pales, shaking his head vigorously. "No! I brought her with me! You know, the girl- er, Meixing, who can vouch for me!"

She takes it as her cue to poke her head out from behind Sideswipe, refraining from cursing his tall frame. "I trip and accidentally go on street," she says. "Therefore, man is not guilty of attempted murder."

Well, there could have been _better_ ways to phrase that, but as long as her point got across, it didn't matter. Sideswipe looks a bit cross at the curt explanation, but when the explanation is over with, they both exit the office within a few minutes. She has no need to follow him around anymore, so she turns to him in order to say her goodbyes.

Though... if he is Leo's friend, doesn't that mean he also knows about the robot aliens the aforementioned man's website had talked about?

She pushes her black locks behind her ear, exhaling softly. Honestly, thinking about this too much wasn't advantageous. She still has her studies to think about, and being in a pre-med program, she shouldn't have the luxury to be tailing young adults like this-

Ah. The realization sinks in suddenly, as if she's been slapped in the face, and she stops. Her hands trail upwards to press at her face, horror displayed upon her countenance. What would her parents have thought if they found out?! No, it was more like what would they _do_... discipline had always come in physical form, whether it be by the bamboo stick or bending at a certain level while holding buckets full of water...

"Hey-"

Meixing pales and reaches out, latching onto Sideswipe's arm. A yelp escapes the taller male and a determined look crosses her face, as he stumbles yet again, cursing her under his breath for seeming to have a habit of grabbing people's arms randomly.

"You tell Leo not to say anything." They're friends, so surely this plan will work. "Not illegal, but still bad if he tell school and parents find out."

Sideswipe lightly snorts, attempting to wriggle his arm free from her grasp. "I don't really have an obligation to listen to you." An idea begins to formulate in his head, however, as he takes in her desperation. "But... I'm willing to compromise."

She lets go immediately, a skeptical frown creasing on her forehead. "... What you want?"

"Tell me who's the 'it' that saved you and why, aside from wanting to thank 'it', that you want to get more information about 'it'." Verbally, he thinks it is a bit crude to refer to himself as an 'it', but she doesn't know that the Cybertronians had their own genders... for now.

"... Secret-"

"You blew it the moment you answered Leo's question." Sideswipe lightly taps the crown of his head, careful not to mess with the gelled locks of hair that defied gravity. "You're not exactly the best secret keeper." Well, she had seemed to keep quiet about him for all these months, so perhaps she should be given some credit.

Her face flushes at the blunt insult. "I... keep secret as best as I can."

"It was a joke, _xiao xing_." He lifts his hand and ruffles her hair roughly, a pleasant hum escaping when he sees that she's annoyed by the gesture. Meixing swats at his hand, scowling lightly.

" _Xiao xing_?" She echoes. If his pronunciation had been slightly off, those two words would have meant something else entirely.

"It's a nickname. You know, little star," he grins, stuffing his hands in his pocket. "Mandarin isn't bad of a language. It's great that I got to learn it a few months ago. It's fun to pronounce."

"Are you mocking my language?" She huffs, frowning again.

"You're bad at reading in-between the lines," he sighs, shaking his head sadly. "Well, even if it was a joke, I still mean it when I say I want to know more about whatever helped you before." She isn't as welcoming as those that were born here, he's noticed. Usually, people would jump at having conversations with new people, wouldn't they? Maybe she's still uncomfortable because they weren't exactly friends yet.

"... Why you want to know?" She asks. "Is it because you know about it?"

He freezes at that. Well, she isn't entirely wrong. But the matter of the problem was that if he admits to it, then her curiosity would be ignited and she'll be more prone to exposure in this war. In all honesty, he should be keeping his distance from her the moment they had met, but... he had to know what she intended to do with the information.

If she was going to be an enemy... an ally... or a neutral party.

Was it bad that he was being so distrustful...? No, this was normal in war. Leo Spitz had been all too willing to expose them before, so it's likely that Meixing will do the same. Reporting to Optimus about this situation is honestly the best course of action... but? Sideswipe felt confident in his ability to contain the dilemma.

' _Yeah! Optimus won't need to bother for this,_ ' he tells himself. ' _I can do it myself. Can't be that hard. Since I'm here to replace Bumblebee for the time being..._ '

"If I knew about it, why would I be curious?" He replies. "It's because you spoke to Leo about it that now I want to know. I can keep a secret too." Find out what she knows, determine if the information was enough to be a threat, and this entire thing would be solved peacefully.

Sideswipe may be notorious for advocating pranks and mischief, but his desire to defend the innocent still remained strong. Bringing another human into this war... would do more than put them in danger.

Meixing still looks uncertain. "He... he the first one I ever told. I never speak to Mama or _Baba_ about it. If... tell you..." Wouldn't that... be betraying her parents? How conflicting. This is not what she wanted to feel when she first entered this school.

"So I'll never tell them you told me," he presses a finger to his lips, a vow of secrecy. "Wouldn't it be nice to have a friend to confide in? Tell me all those little secrets you've been bottling up in yourself."

"I have friends I can confide in..." she mutters. Well, they're more like study buddies if anything, and her roommate is just barely an acquaintance, ironically. Their schedules seemed to conflict, seeing as they hardly had the time to actually sit down to get to know each other.

"A different kind of friend," he shrugs. "Doesn't look like you've told them about this, right?" Bingo. Her sheepish look that's being directed to the ground is proof that he has hit home base.

Finally, she looks like she's going to relent. "... No, aside from Leo, you would be... second one to know." She lifts a pinky finger to the other. "You... promise to keep secret. Then I will tell you little by little."

He stares at her pinky in confusion, and Meixing wonders if she has made a mistake. This was what people usually did when they wanted each other to keep a secret, right? In China, she wouldn't have dare raised this gesture to someone, but in America it didn't have a negative connotation to it.

At least... it wasn't supposed to.

"Ah!" Finally, he grins and links pinkies with her. "I promise~!"

She exhales, finding comfort in the confirmation. "Thank... you." The black-haired girl raises her head to stare at him. "Although, cannot start now."

"Huh?"

"Have homework to do," she says, shuffling around him. "Need to go to dorm and retrieve work." She's quick to retreat, but Sideswipe begins to walk after her, a small frown creasing on his face.

"Hey, you know the likelihood of finding you again isn't high. Give me your phone number."

"You found me before," she comments, not sparing him a glance. "I am sure your luck will help again."

"Yeah sure." he huffs. "Like another coincidence like that will happen again."

She hums, dodging the initial question. "It is small world."

"Meixing," he protests, a small whine to his tone. "Tell me before I drag you _away_ from your dorm!"

There's a small pause, with the two of them still fast-walking down the hallways. Even if she expects it, their differences in builds surely plays to his advantage... and pulling a body throw on him would not end in her favor, in the case that an administrator would happen to pass by.

"Okay," she relents. "I say once, so memorize well."

"You-"

With an amused glance, she opens her mouth and hastily recites her phone number, to which the brunet mumbles grumpily about her unreasonable timing, but she's surprised to hear him recite her number back at her, a smug grin tilted upon his lips.

"... You good at memorizing," she says offhandedly. He merely taps his head and shrugs nonchalantly, though he seems to be practically preening at the compliment.

"I have a good processorrrr... processing skills." He seems to stumble on his words, but Meixing doesn't think much of it, seeing as she's in no position to judge someone else's syntax.

"Is that so?" She asks. "That be useful in school." Meixing shoots him a wary look. "You attend school here now, correct?" It's the only reason why he would ask her to testify on his innocence, right?

He coughs under his breath. "... Er, not really. This is an open campus though. You could say I'm... looking around?"

She stops walking, so in turn he does too. "Shoo." Then, as if she's getting rid of a pest, she presses her hands to the small of the other's back.

"Hey! It's not illegal for a non-student to be here-!"

"No, it is not." Meixing doesn't relent on her pushing, though she's disgruntled to see that he's not budging... just like some brick wall. "But this is girls' dorm. I also do not want you to follow to my room."

"..."

"No one want you here."

"Actually, you'll find that-"

"Go away." She persists. "If you leave now, I promise to tell you more about who I met tomorrow."

Sideswipe brightens at the promise of information and nods, taking a step forward so that she can see his intention of leaving. However, both of them miscalculate the force of her pushing and Meixing yelps when the 'wall' she'd been trying to push disappears, causing her to fall forward.

Of course, both of them have pretty good instincts, with Sideswipe quickly reaching for her and Meixing quickly snagging onto the first object she could reach for stability.

Ultimately, it's his arm that she's gripping intensely, and a small silence passes between them, before Sideswipe smiles coyly.

"You must really like arms, huh?"

"Be quiet."


	5. Chapter 5

i learned quite the amount of things about sideswipe thanks to xin ~~ i'll do my best to incorporate them as i go along. if it isn't obvious, my sideswipe is a mix of his fanon and canon personality~ which makes me wonder how exactly the fandom diverged so much from canon but i'll take what i can get xD

a bit of a warning though, i'm implementing real situations in here, so if you're offended... well. it's unfortunately still a relevant issue even in 2016, so i guess a bit of social awareness? rip

* * *

Chapter Five

Her downfall is that she's blatantly direct and honest.

* * *

She's in her room, reading and annotating critical analyses over an author's novel for her Literature course, when her phone pings to indicate a text message. An eyebrow arches in curiosity, knowing that it has not been twenty-four hours since she had parted ways from the strange man whom she had recited her number to. The only reason she knows it's him is because she likes setting different types of notification sounds for different people. As she has not yet set one for him, his is the standard bubble sound.

Well, not that it has to be a day before he is allowed to contact her, but she didn't really expect contact from him so soon. Technically, it had been a day; after retreating into her room and taking eight hours to sleep, she had risen early to do her work, and Sideswipe had sent a message that read ' _Are you free?_ ' minutes after she had risen. His timing was impeccable.

Meixing had ignored it... but the second text message comes soon after the first one.

[ **Unknown: Text received:** meixinggggggg! are you free? don't ignore me! it's sideswipe! sean! sides! what do you call me again ]

The Chinese youth sighs and relents, picking up her phone and responding to his persistence after inputting his nickname as the contact title.

[ **Sideswipe: Text sent:** You preferred to be called by your nickname, Sideswipe, did you not? I am doing my work. Please do not bother me. ]

[ **Sideswipe: Text received:** what the heck your english is so much better all of a sudden  
are you really meixing  
nvm you promised to tell me stuff! when are you done w/ your work? ]

A small twitch of irritation follows after his exclamation. It's not her fault that writing in English comes much more faster to her mind than speaking it does. Meixing decides to wait a few minutes before responding, mostly out of pettiness than occupation of time... unfortunately.

[ **Sideswipe: Text sent:** I can afford a break in two hours. That will be the optimal time for lunch. We can talk over lunch then. ]

That is the normal thing to do, right? Meixing remembers her parents casually inviting their friends out to lunch all the time. Perhaps it is a bit forward of her to invite Sideswipe when this is only the second day of meeting him, but that is also the reason for meeting him over an occasion that normal human beings enjoy: food. Food is the key to every person's happiness. The meeting will be less formal, so it will be easier for them to converse over food...

She nods to herself, proud of her prospective analysis- though perhaps she's merely projecting her own desire to eat... either way, she makes to return to her work. If someone were to compare the current student to the one who had persistently pursued two other students for information, they would most likely find no similarities.

It's scary, really, to see the shift in demeanor depending on the situation.

"Meimei~"

The unfamiliar address causes the youth to jump out of her chair immediately, looking around for the offender. Only her mother is allowed to address her by that nickname, both because of its second meaning and the fact that it's a form of endearment she does not want to embrace that easily.

When Meixing had retreated from her chair, a pair of arms had wrapped around her waist from behind. Meixing stiffens, turning her head to meet the gaze of her roommate.

"Do not call me that," she states flatly, attempting to pry the other's arms from her waist. "Don't care if know Chinese. Not my sister or mama." It's more difficult to attack someone who already has a grip on her, but if she twists her body in a certain way, Meixing can effectively kick the other away.

Not that... attacking her roommate is obviously the morally correct thing to do, but these displays of physical contact are very unfamiliar to the Chinese youth.

"Got it. But you're so cute~" Green hues glimmer devilishly, and even if Meixing has rarely seen her roommate, she knows that the plotting behind those hues are never advantageous to her life. Literally.

"... Now let go of me."

"Sure," she shrugs, laughing and releasing the other from her embrace. "How long have you been here anyway? It's already two-fifty, you know?"

Meixing blinks dubiously at that. "... It is?"

"Yup. I didn't come back last night, but I'm willing to guess you've been here since the morning, right?"

"Partying again?" Meixing mutters crossly, closing her book and attempting to fish her phone out of her pocket. "Rachie, you get in trouble one day."

The aforementioned girl shrugs. "Gotta enjoy life while it lasts. Why are you trying to check the time? Don't believe me?" She watches with amusement as the other fails to respond, which is honestly either an affirmation or denial; as always, it's difficult to read the other. Even if this is one of the few times where their whims and schedules permitted them to converse like this.

"Not that don't believe..." Those are the only words Rachie hears from Meixing, because then she hears a loud knock on the door. It seems to escape Meixing's notice, so Rachie shrugs and makes her way to the doorway. "But is very hard to believe..." Meixing pauses, noticing that the other is not within her perimeters of a legitimate conversation. "Where you go?"

"Whoa~~ Meimei, a cute guy's here to see you~"

It's hard to resist... Meixing's head instantly slams into the nearby wall, groaning at both the shamelessness of her roommate and the fact that she had certainly not acceded to Meixing's request of the forbidden nickname.

"Meimei, huh? Didn't know _Xiao xing_ was into that~?" Meixing recognizes that voice instantly.

" _One day, I will personally pull that tongue of yours out from your mouth,_ " Meixing mumbles under her breath. Whichever person she's referring to remains unclear, but in response, two voices chime: "I can understand you~"

She pinches the bridge of her nose, thoroughly exasperated as she trudges to the doorway hesitantly. Sure enough, Sideswipe's arms are crossed over his chest in amusement, whereas Rachie is switching her gaze from Sideswipe to Meixing, as if attempting to fill in the blanks purposefully left by the Chinese youth.

"Sorry. Did not see it was time," Meixing sighs. She shoots a wary glance towards Rachie, whose devious grin seems to widen more and more.

"Nah, I'm not that hungry anyway." Sideswipe waves it off, though she can tell he's seeming to preen... perhaps because of the compliment paid beforehand to his appearance. "Are you ready now?"

"Yes, I-"

"Dressed like that?" Rachie cuts in immediately, arching an eyebrow at the choice of attire Meixing is donned in. A sweatshirt and sweatpants... which seems just like the classic set of pajamas for the youth.

"We not go anywhere fancy anyway. Not resourceful enough for that." She speaks as if it's not a big deal, and Sideswipe himself doesn't seem to know, or understand, the lack of effort in terms of clothing.

Rachie snorts. "Okay. Then I guess that means I don't need to worry~"

"... About what?"

The blonde smiles. "Well, you not trying means you're not interested in him. So I can get dibs on either you or the cutie, eheh~" Before Meixing can respond, Rachie nudges the shorter girl out into the hallway. "There's a homecoming party tonight. Make sure you come back so we can go~?" She winks at both of them. "Both of you are invited. The more the merrier, plus you'd certainly bring a lot of attention at the party. Bye!"

When the door slams, Sideswipe tilts his head, puzzled as to what the other had been trying to implicate. "What did she mean... by dibs?" Well, that's one part of his question; the other parts lies on the party she had mentioned. It sounded interesting, and it wasn't like he had any particular duty to carry out on campus anyway. Replacing Bumblebee temporarily didn't mean he had to just sit back and be dormant, after all.

Meixing shrugs. "Food, maybe? Don't know much about American slang." She slips her phone into the pocket of her sweatshirt. "Where you wanna go? Best not to go far... and place with outdoor seating be safer for more secret facts."

"There's a cafe on this campus, right?" He asks. Sideswipe isn't too keen on the idea of driving, especially since the whole point of his mission is to lay low (very contradictory to his first appearance at this university...).

She nods, glancing at him before starting to walk, stuffing her hands into her pockets slowly. "It has patio, so good place." She gives him a skeptical look then. "You sure you not be student...?"

Sideswipe laughs nervously. "Just... looking around, like I said. I'm not on the active force for now, so I have a good amount of free time."

"Fortunate," she mutters crossly.

"Not really," he shrugs. "I miss fighting. I'm more happier out on the battlefield than babysitting some hu-... kids."

"What is your rank?" She questions.

"Warrior," he replies simply. The cross look that Meixing gives is lost upon him, as he genuinely believes that it is a legitimate rank in war. However, Meixing takes it as his desire to not specify- perhaps because it is because he cannot disclose information like that so easily? Well, whatever the reason is, she's keen enough to not pursue the topic, despite her curiosity. It doesn't really concern what she wants anyway, so she can make do with vague descriptions.

When she pushes forward through the crowd, she glances back to Sideswipe. "You not coming?"

He waves her away casually. "I'm not really hungry. I'll go save a table for us."

She figures it might be because he decided to eat while waiting for her. If that is the case, she's inclined to feel guilty. Purchasing fries and two coffees, the petite woman searches for the other and finds him at a table, outside as discussed earlier, surprised that he's managed to secure a spot without any nearby students.

He lifts his head when she approaches, quizzically giving the extra coffee bottle a stare when she pushes it in front of him.

"... It is least I can do for make you wait." Leaning back in the chair across from him, she begins to pick apart her sandwich, waiting for him to ask whatever he wanted to know. She isn't sure what she wants to disclose just yet, so she has to answer based on both of their discretion. Is he really trustworthy? Confiding in him is like allowing him to shoulder some of the burden she's been hoarding to herself this entire time.

It will feel liberating, but at the same time, she cannot help but wonder if this will ruin any chances of meeting the one who saved her life.

"Describe 'it' for me." His first curiosity is the matter of her savior, as expected. However, even Meixing admits that she cannot answer his question specifically, not because she doesn't want to, but because it's the very thing that she's been pursuing more knowledge on.

"Silver. Tall. Mechanical.. a robot alien, if put in Leo's terms." Meixing leans forward, absentmindedly poking at the cap of the bottled coffee. "Very bright eyes." She pauses, giving the other a wary look. "... You not laugh, okay? Or else will stop." Another pause of hesitation. "You believe me anyway? Sound very suspicious, no?"

Sideswipe clears his throat and fights the grin that threatens to tilt upon his lips. "Well, I'll decide if I believe you after you tell me your story. And I won't laugh." _At least, I'll try not to_. To make sure she isn't going to send any more skeptical glances towards him, he opens the cap of the coffee and gulps down some of the liquid. "Tell me about how 'it' saved you."

"... Okay," she says, reluctant but eventually deciding to keep her side of the promise. In order to give him a more concise version of the story, she takes a few moments to formulate what she's exactly going to say. With this, her choppy English won't come to light... but this is one of the few instances in which she actually will have time to process and think about what she wants to say, without worrying about face or automatic responses. Her silence is unnerving, but Sideswipe seems patient enough. He can see the gears in her head turning, and he leans back in his seat, arms crossed behind his neck casually.

"I helped my parents with deliveries back then, so I was on my way from making a delivery when a silver car began to follow me. I did not think much of it at first, but when I realized it was speeding towards me, I assumed that it would be the end of my life then." As if she's writing an essay, her speech comes out mechanically, and she looks faintly perturbed by her own robotic tone. "However, the silver being saved my life by destroying that silver car. I do not think it knew I was there before, because when it saw me, it was very surprised. It seemed to be in a hurry, because it left me alone after requesting that I keep that night a secret."

It's suffocating, speaking so formally, but for some reason she's feeling more conscious of the way she's speaking. Perhaps it's because this is a story about her savior, and she doesn't want to butcher any moment of it. It has to be perfect because it is about her savior... yes. That is the least she can do after exposing its existence to two people not involved in their encounter.

"You nervous?" Sideswipe fights back a chuckle, though it's apparent that he's amused by her anxiousness. "We've met gazes so many times, but this is the first time I've seen you so flustered." Well, judging by the rate of her heartbeat, it's similar to how humans get nervous when presenting a speech. Still, the formality isn't necessary- she needed to relax, if anything.

"Don't be arrogant," Meixing flatly replies, frowning and exhaling harshly. "You cute, but no like you that way. You point out before too. My English better over text, right?" She's back to saying the first things that come to mind- she doesn't have the time to think about what she's going to phrase now.

"It was a joke," he says harmlessly, lifting his hands up. "Speak however you want to me. I can understand you either way. But hey- did you just call me cute?" She swears his arrogance is at its highest compared to what it was a day ago. He's grinning coyly again and leaning forward, a pleasant hum escaping his lips.

She falters. "... No harm in complimenting a friend."

"Got it," he muses. "Humans are weird and irritating sometimes, but you're pretty tolerable."

"Drink your coffee," she states suddenly, grabbing his bottle and shoving it in his face. "We not come out here to compliment each other."

It seems he had been refraining before, but now, a laugh finally breaks free from the restraints he had placed on it before. Half of him wants to say it's unfair of him, to laugh so freely in times as dire as these. He had told himself he should be focusing on his work, to find his brother, and that all humans were the same; weak and small, not knowing their place...

Actually, the one before him is also small. She's not tall compared to her peers, but he suspects it's a result of being of a different race (he had googled it before when he wondered why some humans looked different than others). Intriguing, how all humans came in different shapes and sizes.

Sideswipe props his elbow on the table and places his chin on his hand, tilting his head while giving Meixing a curious look.

"... What." She had been waiting for him to stop laughing- had he been laughing for long? He doesn't seem to recall.

"Before we diverged on the topic..." he says, snorting in amusement at Meixing's huff in response. "... In any case, you kept my- er, that thing's secret, right?"

She nods, glad for the total change in conversation. "I tell you yesterday already. Never told anyone, aside from you and... in a way, Leo." She sighs. "Leo not know much though. Did not tell him specifics, he only know that the robot alien saved my life."

"I don't see why you're so persistent in finding it though," Sideswipe points out. "What if it didn't even intend to save your life? Or if it doesn't even remember you?" Certainly, Sideswipe had not recognized her at all, not until he had gotten a direct, anger-free look at her face.

Meixing smiles, a mixture of wryness and solemness. "Not matter to me. Still my savior." An exhale leaves her and she picks at a fry, absentmindedly nibbling on it. She's thinking of the best way to phrase her next sentence, fortunately that gives her the time to be more eloquent. "It... did not intend to save me. But it still did. I think the fact that it was there in Shanghai that night means that its ultimate goal... was to save any human." She remembers its words clearly. "It... is protector. Very noble of it to want to protect us. Unlike the other one that held no regard to my life and invited destruction with its path."

Sideswipe's expression is unreadable. He's regarding her with bated curiosity, brows creased in a slight frown and lips pressing together into a thin line. On one hand... he's very much taking in her words as praise, and accepting it to fuel his own ego. But on the other hand, she knows much more than she had let on before. He's sure that he hadn't been too specific with his rushed statements back then. That just means she's perceptive enough- or Primus forbid, she had access to information in another way- to pick up puzzles with missing pieces and connecting them on her own. _What else does she know?_ He must find out, for the sake of her safety and the Autobot's security breaches-

"Ah, it is already four o clock." She had pulled her phone out after taking a small break from her story telling. "I tell myself earlier I only get an hour break before go back to work."

He blinks, as if breaking free from a trance. "Wait, Meixing-"

The Chinese girl looks slightly apologetic. If she had not lost track of time in her room, perhaps she would've had more time to share her story. "Unless you do work for me, cannot bargain on this."

He can't just let information go like this. "Yeah, I'll do your work for you. How hard can it be?" The Internet is his mind; nothing would be impossible for him.

Meixing arches an eyebrow, giving a light scoff as she rises from her seat. "... Was joke, Sideswipe. I do my own work."

"But-"

A ring interrupts him. Meixing lifts her phone to her ear, remembering that she had set the obnoxious bell ringtone to her roommate's contact information. "Hello?"

" **Meimei~?** "

Meixing's expression sours immediately. "Told you not to call me that."

" **Wheeeree are youuu~?** "

"At campus cafe," she answers without a second thought. "Why?"

There's a prompt silence following her response, and Meixing almost decides to hang up on the other. Sideswipe opens his mouth, as if aiming to warn her of something- that is, until she feels a hand prod at the small of her back.

With a loud yelp escaping, Meixing quickly whips around and jumps, throwing her leg out at the offender as she leans her body back in order to spin horizontally. In response, the offender lets out a scream of her end, collapsing on the ground immediately.

No physical contact is made; Meixing quickly lands on the foot she used to propel her kick, coming face to face with whoever had approached her.

She recognizes the green hues and freckles belonging to her roommate, in which Meixing relaxes immediately and Rachie is torn between glaring at Meixing or scooting backwards a few more feet.

"Did not hit you... but sorry for lashing," Meixing says apologetically. "But... you touch me first. Was self-defense."

"... Some self-defense that is," Rachie replies airily. She looks to Sideswipe for support. "Did you see that?! She was going to kick my head off!"

Sideswipe rubs the back of his neck almost sheepishly. "... It was kinda cool to watch though. I heard that some hum- er, some people learn special moves like that for fighting, right?"

"... best defense is strong offense," Meixing huffs. Nonetheless, she ends the call and helps her roommate to her feet, despite thinking internally that it was a well deserved warning for her roommate being a party-goer and addressing her by an unwanted nickname.

"You didn't actually hit her though," Sideswipe points out. "So you're lacking. I can show you a better and more lethal kick."

Meixing gives him a hard stare at that. "Type of kick is not meant to hit. Directing to actually kick opponent is difficult, so is more efficient as warning. Many more kicks in _Chángquán_ that can hit." She pauses, giving him another glance before letting out a small snicker.

Sideswipe arches an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Actually, if translate to English..." She tilts her head. "That type of kick, at least the variation I perform, is called Sideswipe."

"... Seriously?"

"Mhnhm."

"... That's awesome."

The moment of admiration passes quickly. Rachie interjects by grabbing Meixing's arm.

"So sorry to interrupt, but this just gives me more leverage. C'mon, let's go to that party, Meimei!"

"How many time do I have to-"

"This is compensation for trying to kill me," Rachie raises her voice, as if pointedly ignoring Meixing's protest.

"... Was not murder attempt," she responds, though her weakness seems to have been stricken. The Chinese woman's demeanor seems to shrink visibly, as her tone takes on a self-reprimanding air to it. Despite her stubborn hardheadedness, she does genuinely regret attacking someone who had, technically, done nothing wrong. Even if her impression of her roommate still stands to be improved...

"I'll forgive you if you party with me~" Rachie sings, and Meixing isn't sure if she's more uncomfortable with that idea or with her own mistake. "You can bring cutie too, I don't mind."

Sideswipe innocently lifts a finger to point at himself, as if to say ' _Who, me?_ ' Meixing sees this and narrows her eyes, knowing that he's feigning that innocence. Just by their exchanges, she's mindful of the fact that he's all too aware of his own lethal nature... in terms of looks. Truly, the type of person that's troublesome to deal with...

"How long must I stay?" She grumbles. "Not fond of parties. Must do homework."

"Just for an hour, if you really hate it," Rachie compromises, smiling giddily as she did so. "Or maybe even less, if ya want~?"

There has to be an ulterior motive to this. Meixing is just unable to figure out what exactly- at least, for the time being. Perhaps the other's intentions will be revealed later on.

"Are... you coming?" She asks Sideswipe. If someone she knows is also there, it will feel less unfamiliar. Rachie isn't necessarily a bad person, but given the other's fleeting appearances in their shared dorm, Meixing's not too eager to put all of her trust in the other.

"Do you want me to come?"

She wants to kick that grin off of his face.

"Friends hang out with each other," she replies slowly. "Is normal, correct?"

Rachie hums and points to herself for support.

"Alright, good enough." He decides that it's the best response he'll get, considering Meixing's stubbornness. But, befriending a human like this... if just a few months ago, someone had told him this fact, he'd laugh in their face and hang them outside in the main hanger as a prank. Perhaps, what the others had said was true... not all humans were that bad?

"What is appeal of party? Do not really get it." After affirming the accompaniment of the other two, Rachie begins to drag Meixing- although it is unnecessary, given that the latter has already consented to her participation. However, that's not to say Meixing will comply with this without complaining. She'll make sure to voice every bit of her displeasure.

"Well, there's hanging out with people!"

"Do not care for people."

"... And making new friends?"

"Friends only worth if beneficial."

"Yeesh, not everything is like business, Meimei..." Rachie pouts. "Aren't I your friend?"

"You roommate. Maybe friend, if not call me by horrible nickname."

"And him?" Rachie jabs a thumb towards the trailing male.

"Light friend. Beneficial because stories." Plus, there's the fact he possibly knows more about the robot aliens that he'll admit. Him being friends with Leo confirms that.

"Gotta have a reason for everything, huh?" Rachie shrugs. "Well, whatever. I still got you to come."

Still looking uncomfortable with the idea of prolonged socializing, Meixing sighs and chooses to not speak any further. Rachie makes small talk with Sideswipe, occasionally attempting to bring Meixing into the conversation as well. But the aforementioned woman remains resilient in her silence, a feeling of dread washing over her as the sound of loud music begins to fill the previously silent evening.

"Why must everything be so loud?" She grumbles, hand twitching to show she wanted to cover her ears already. Rachie merely grins and drags the other inside the house- why was there a house just for partying on this campus again?

"It's a fraternity, actually. They just use the house of meetings for parties instead." It seemed as if Meixing had accidentally voiced her thoughts aloud, to which Rachie merely responds with mild amusement.

"So this is a human party..." Sideswipe blinks, as if mesmerized by the sight.

"Never been to a party before?" Rachie arches an eyebrow. "Hard to believe, especially with those looks."

"Looks aren't everything, femme." A pause. "And I've been to... different kinds of parties."

Rachie raises her eyebrow suggestively, as if she's interpreting his implications a different way, but the meaning is lost on him, naturally.

"I already feel tired..." Meixing grumbles as Rachie releases her arm.

"Let's dance together," she insists. "How can you feel tired if you haven't even doing anything?"

"Just the presence of people makes me tired," she retorts, rubbing her arm. Sideswipe's looking around in fascination, though he doesn't step away from the two females; his curiosity isn't enough to make him wander around humans he doesn't know, after all.

Rachie rolls her eyes. "C'mon, Meimei..."

Meixing opens her mouth to protest again, but is stopped when others in the party take notice of Rachie, most likely- Meixing isn't surprised to see that the other has friends as a result of the parties.

"Hey, Rach!" A blond man approaches them, flocked by a trio of girls. "You're late."

"Nah, you're just early," she laughs. "Hey, I brought my roommate that I've been talking about. Say hi, Meimei."

Meixing gives her a flat, unamused look. "Why do you never listen to me?"

Rachie's statement has the stranger's attention focused on her. The man's expression falters and the girls wrinkle their noses.

"What's that _**fob** _ wearing?"

The disgusted remark perks Meixing's attention significantly. Rachie's grin loses its glow and Sideswipe glances towards them, his eyes glazed over as if he's searching for something in his mind.

"... Excuse me?" The Chinese youth glances over her own attire, which remained unchanged from the morning. Oh. Perhaps it is rude of her to come to a party without the proper attire, but was it really necessary to call her by that insult...?

"Her accent's pretty noticeable..." The male mutters to his companions. "Rach failed to deliver."

Meixing gives Rachie a sharp look. It isn't the first time someone has attempted at insulting her using the outdated term, however, she's more hurt by the idea that her roommate would try and set this up- they can call her whatever they want, they aren't relevant to her life anyway, but if this is the reason Rachie had been so insistent... "Did you... bring me here to try and make a show out of me?"

"What-?! No!" She shakes her head in refusal, giving the others a brief glare. "You should apologize to her. Do you even know what year we're in? Who calls Asians fobs anymore?"

"Her **parents** should've made sure she learned English before coming to America, then."

"You-!"

"No, I don't mind." Meixing's expression is dark and she takes a step towards the other, offering a hand. "Here, please shake my hand. Then I have an excuse."

"An excuse... for what?"

"For throwing you across the room."

That's Sideswipe cue to immediately hoist the smaller woman away, throwing her over his shoulder none-too-gently, ignoring her yelling protests and curses in Mandarin.

"Sideswipe, I throw you first if not put me down!"

"I don't doubt that," he murmurs, but brings his attention to the quartet of Rachie's companions, who seem shocked at his intervention. The girls are quickly getting glossy eyes and the blond male blinks dubiously. "Humans... can be pretty slaggy sometimes, huh?."

"Wait, you should let her leave. You can stay," one of them offers.

"Hmm... nah." His lip curls in slight disgust. "You insulted one of my friends, right? This 'fob' word is derogatory in certain contexts. So I shouldn't be friends with people who make fun of my friends. Plus, her accent's cute. Anyway, we'll excuse ourselves now."

"Sideswipe-!"

He can't tell if Meixing's flustered by his sudden compliment or still angry at his intervention, but starting a fight isn't beneficial for either of them. She's quite easy to carry out, nonetheless, and he merely laughs her anger off, the chilly evening air rushing against his face suddenly.

"Don't go around beating up other people, Xiao xing," he muses, wishing he could see her facial expression right now. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for fights-" Especially if he's involved, but he can't go around harming humans now. "-But I'm sure your crea- er, **parents** wouldn't like it."

At the mention of her parents, Meixing stills her movements. She casts a wary look towards him, though all she can see now is the back of his shirt. "... Did you know?"

"That you threatened her after she mentioned your parents?" Sideswipe hums. "You're pretty transparent, y'know."

Meixing pouts, bringing her gaze to the ground. "Would you not do the same?"

He contemplates that. "I don't know my crea- er, parents. But I have a brother I would fight for... so yeah." He reaches up and pats her shoulder. "There's a time and place for everything. Fight people in war, not in peaceful places." Strangely mature of him to say, but as a soldier who's been disciplined many times by his superiors when he was younger and reckless, it somehow... stuck to him. "Although, I'm very up to the idea of playing a prank on that fraternity house if you want."

"... And here I thought you be mature for second there."

"Well~ I have my moments."

Meixing sighs. "Fair enough. Anyway, you can put me down now."

"What are you gonna do after this though?"

"My work? Is obvious."

Sideswipe pauses, then shakes his head and grins complacently. "In that case, naaah. You need a longer break, so I'll just walk around campus to clear your head."

"Huh? No, I have lot of w-"

"I'm gonna start running now~!"

"Sideswipe!"


	6. Chapter 6

you know what's really tragic? fanfiction deletes documents after being inactive for ninety days without chance of recovery so what i had already typed up is lost and i

anyway! i had to reread a lot of things to make sure i try to keep the canon characters in-character ahah. let me know if there's things i should change though! in my opinion, i think sideswipe will be very loyal to the autobots, despite how stubborn he may be. any threat to optimus or them... would he think rationally? i think he would act impulsively, given what i know about him. but? please leave your thoughts otherwise! i'm always open to being wrong haha

oh! if it wouldn't hurt, i'd also appreciate feedback on pacing? i don't want to go too fast, but also... i'm pretty sure it'd be boring to place filler chapters |D

alsooo i kinda wanna change the title of this story. we'll see.

remember, italics are chinese!

* * *

Chapter Six

Everyone deserves to relax, whether they're a strange soldier or a stubborn student.

* * *

After taking her away from the party, he holds true to his word, and remains carrying her on his shoulder as they walk around campus. It's nighttime, so the normal buzz is the crowd has dimmed down to a minimum. Students still take classes at this time of day, so there's the occasional shuffle of footsteps.

Right now though, Meixing feels like it's only the two of them. Maybe because she can't see anything besides the ground, after tiring herself out from the struggle of freeing her body from his hold.

"You stubborn," Meixing complains for the tenth time. "We been walking for hours."

"Thirty minutes, actually. And I'm the one doing all the walking."

"Do not appreciate your sarcasm."

She huffs, but there's a short pause after that before they both let out their own version of amusement. In Sideswipe's case, he lets out a wholehearted laugh. The more reserved of the two, however, merely exhales softly and shakes her head.

The night wind blows gently against her hair. Shortly after, she recognizes the buildings that surround her dorm and concludes that he must be taking her back to her room at last.

"You've been held hostage for enough times," he says, grinning despite the fact she would not be able to see him. "I'll see you later though, Xiao xing. You owe me more of that story."

She arches an eyebrow. "Told you everything about it." Then she pauses. Wait, she really had, hadn't she? After she had promised to keep it a secret that night... but she owed Sideswipe a debt. Fortunately, he seems to be trustworthy enough. Scratch the fact she said she would tell him little by little... oh well.

"Well, not everything. I wanna know your story," he laughs, as if it is natural of him to do so. "Gotta get to know your friends more, right?" An excuse. He needs to know how much she knows about the Autobots and whether or not they were compromised. Plus, if he kept an eye on her, he could prevent her from making any more contact with Leo. It's risky to let them interact. Leo is the type to cave into pressure, and Meixing excels in giving that pressure.

"... I see. That only be polite." And so she digresses. The friends she has are classmates that she studies with and works together with on projects. There's a certain distance between them. It's not like she is incapable of being sociable when necessary, but aside from school, there's nothing in common that she shares with them. How can anyone be friends with someone with whom they don't share likeness with?

Wait, if that's the case, what does she have in common with Sideswipe?

"Absolutely nothing," she mutters crossly to herself. Sideswipe makes a questioning sound, which she dismisses right away. "Nothing. Just put me down now."

He complies. The petite Asian pats her shirt to clear it of the wrinkles, eyebrows creased into a light frown.

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow." He gives her a salute with two fingers, turning on his heel without waiting for her response.

"Wait, Sideswipe." Meixing stands firmly, gripping her arm with a hand as she coughs to get more of his attention. The taller male stops in his track, turning his head to give her a questioning back-glance.

Her lips are pressed firmly together, but tentatively, they slowly part in order to express words that she would normally have trouble saying. "Thank you."

Sideswipe blinks in confusion, and he turns so that he's facing her wholly now. "What did I —"

"Taking me away from party," she cuts in quickly. "And... for promising to keep secret. Good night."

She tilts her head forehead in a brief bow before scrambling to unlock the door. When Sideswipe finally snaps out of his stupor, the door is slammed behind her.

He laughs, lifting his arms and interlacing his hands behind his neck. "Looks like you know your manners after all." He deserves that praise though! After all, enduring the presence of all these humans and saving her twofold now? He certainly should be awarded with a vacation after Bumblebee returned to take up his guardianship duty again.

Electric blue hues shine with amusement as he allows his holoform to dissipate, turning his attention towards the dorm where Sam lives in. At least, despite being given this boring duty, he has something to entertain himself with. This is his first mission for scouting information in decades; while he normally avoids those types of missions, lack of heavy Decepticon activity as of late causes him to be eager for almost anything nowadays. He misses battle... but he knows the Autobots are enjoying this peace.

No matter how temporary it may be.

* * *

"My eye hurts," Meixing sighs, firmly placing a hand over her right eye. "Hasn't been this bad in while." Is it because of the sunlight that woke her up? That's the most plausible explanation, given that it doesn't seem like this pain is from having a headache.

Brown hues survey the room, landing on Rachie, who's still asleep. Meixing squints at the container on the counter, a note from her roommate saying that this is her form of apology.

"... Words would have been enough," she mutters. "Don't like sweets anyway." But after freshening up for the morning, she slips the container inside her bag and makes her way outside, shutting the door quietly after her.

She needs to do her work, but the library is closed today. After wandering around the campus, there's sanctuary in empty tables surrounding the pond. Although it is windy today, she settles in a place under the canopy of a large tree. The shade is a solace from the sun that's sure to bake any poor soul under it today.

Spreading her papers out, she makes sure that each stack has their own paperweight before starting on her work. It'd do herself some good if she got most of it done today, so that she can spend the rest of her weekend preparing for the upcoming material. Working ahead has never been her strong suite, but class goes by more smoothly if she has questions prepared for the professor instead of scrambling around to find the answers she needed after the lecture is given.

" _Let's see..._ " By herself, it's comforting to speak in her native tongue. " _I should finish my draft for the chemistry lab procedure. Then I can finish the textbook problems for statistics._ " She rubs her eyes, grumbling in irritation at the faintly throbbing pain. " _And maybe get some medicine for this again._ "

A battle plan settled, the Chinese woman crackles her knuckles and sets to work.

The campus isn't quiet, but she's able to work efficiently, not minding the occasional hustle of students. Most of everyone would be going outside of campus for day, but it's night when it gets busy. She should be able to get done before the majority of the student body returns.

However, her phone buzzes and she sits up straight in surprise. How many hours has passed since she came to this spot? Checking her phone, there's a single missed call from Sideswipe.

Ah. Right, he wanted to meet with her. Well... she didn't exactly promise him it would be the next day, right? Before she can call him back, however, someone plops into one of the chairs at the table and she snaps her gaze up immediately.

"You're cold, Meixing." He nonchalantly picks up one of her textbooks, looking over it curiously. "Not even picking up my call, after I put in the effort to contact you."

She arches an eyebrow. At least his attitude hasn't changed. Yet what's strange... is that there's someone else accompanying him too. How did he even find her in the first place?

"Come on, Sides! I told you I need to go out to the airport to pick up Mikaela!"

"Take a bus. A taxi. There's lots of ways for you guys to get around."

"You're my guardian. Excuse you." A frown creases on his face. "What if something happens to me?"

"Temporary guardian. I don't like humans riding in my car if the situation isn't life-threatening to them." He sighs. "There's no signatures and we haven't had an attack in months. You'll be fine. If the worst uncannily happens, you know I can get to you in less than five minutes. Fastest car."

"You stubborn Auto —" The familiar face stops speaking when he notices Meixing in his peripheral vision. "I mean. Stubborn friend."

"He is," Meixing agrees readily, to which Sideswipe frowns and places the textbook back on the table.

"I don't need you two doubleteaming on me," he grumbles.

Sam seems surprised, but nonetheless, he forces out a grin to the other. "Hey. Haven't seen you since... well."

"Mhn. Sorry," she says genuinely. "I am better now. Though I still have some questions..."

Sam coughs into his sleeve. "Anyway, Sideswipe! You have to take me to the airport! Come on!"

The other male is glowering. "I have business to do here." Jabbing a thumb at Meixing, who decided to return to her work and thus doesn't notice the gesture, Sideswipe gives Sam an unamused stare. He mouths the word 'information' to the human male, who seems to stiffen up in apprehension.

'She knows?' Sam mouths back, cautiously glancing to the studying Asian female. 'I mean, Leo and I figured she knew, but we didn't know how much.'

'Exactly. I need to find out how dangerous it is.' Sideswipe looks like he's won. 'So, go on.'

There's a short pause, but then Sam says something that the Autobot definitely did not expect.

"She can come with us!"

Sideswipe nearly disappears in shock.

"Are you out of your fragging —" He's up from his seat in an instant, hands reaching out for Sam and firmly grabbing his collar. Although Sam pales considerably, he does not relent.

"I'm a poor college student," Sam states bluntly. "You're a free ride. We can kill two birds with one stone."

"No need," Meixing responds, waving off the two casually. "First off, don't know you two well. Second, have work to do."

"Fair enough," Sam agrees. "But have you seen how nice his car is?"

Sideswipe doesn't care what this person says. Even if he also agrees he chose the most superior alternate form of all the Autobots. They're not going to hitch a ride from him unless their lives counted on it. He lets go of Sam's collar, but not without giving him a light shove in the end.

"The one that almost ran me over," she nods. "Seen it. Seems very expensive."

"It is," Sam smiles. "Don't you want to see the inside?"

"No." Sideswipe and Meixing chime in simultaneously, but for different reasons. Regardless, Sam winces and hangs his head in defeat.

"Fine. Just give me that credit card that all you guys are issued, and I'll be on my merry way."

It's not like he would use it otherwise. Sideswipe nods and hands it off to the brunet, who drags his feet as he walks away.

"You not very nice to your friend," Meixing comments.

"I'm not nice in general," he scoffs. "No wait, he isn't even my fr—"

"Not true. You a good person."

"Go on." Yes, inflate his ego more than it needed to be already.

"Sometimes."

"You're a killjoy, Xiao xing." Sideswipe settles back in the chair, observing her as she does her work diligently. "Don't you ever get tired of paperwork?"

"No. This is what I good at." Her sigh is soft. "Regardless, did not think you would find me. I told you there nothing more to share about story."

"I have more questions though," he points out. "You may claim that you've shared everything... but maybe there's more that you didn't realize you withheld." The skeptical look she gives him shows that she didn't buy his story. "Like... how do you know where to look for it?"

He confirmed yesterday she was looking for him, after all. He knows the reasons... but there's no way trying to be grateful could lead her so closely to where they were now.

Meixing puts her pencil down. "It spoke English."

"There are more countries than the United States that speak English."

That is fair. Relenting, the Chinese woman relaxes her posture and stares back at the other. "That night... I saw American flag symbol. Not from savior, of course, but..."

She's hesitating again.

"You can trust me, Xiao xing. Remember, I'm not going to tell anyone." A half-hearted promise, in any case. This would be included in his report to Optimus, for certain, but what she doesn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"It was on parachute with weird symbol." Meixing smiles. "The one that flew from its friend, I think. It was taller than savior. I could tell, especially when it appeared from sky."

Sideswipe deflates visibly, sinking into his chair in disbelief. She saw Optimus too, and the parachutes that they all used that day had the Autobot insignia etched into it. She wasn't even dismissing it as a trick of her mind, like many of the Shanghai citizens did that night. The government in China had done well in covering up the incident... or so they thought. Sideswipe had heard that two years back, when the Autobots faced off against Megatron for the first time in centuries, there were many spectators involved in that city. The government had a great hand in concealing details of the incident later, by brainwashing those who saw the Cybertronians or buying the silence (along with threats) of those the brainwashing did not work on.

Yet here this person was. She had seen everything, spilling it to someone who she seemingly trusted. If her government knew about her, they should've kept an eye on her consistently, or else she never would've been allowed to come this far anyway.

"You need to come with me," Sideswipe says harshly. Meixing isn't given a chance to react as he lashes out and grips her wrist firmly, dragging her out from her seat none-too-gently.

"Sides?" She yelps, wincing visibly as she stumbles forward. Fortunately, his grip is like iron so she doesn't faceplant the ground, but she loses her standing and scrapes her knees against the grass. "That hurt! What was —"

"I don't believe you. Humans are naturally greedy creatures." His grip tightens further. "Always acting of their own accord. You saw that much and you mean to say you haven't told anyone aside from me?" His lips pull back in a snarl and he crouches down, meeting her gaze with burning blue fire. "You came here to expose us. Your government failed to erase your memories, so you thought this place would be an easy target. Admit it."

It has to be true. There's no way she would have kept all this information to herself otherwise so far. He's right. He's absolutely correct, he has to be.

And yet when she pulls his gaze to meet his, her brown hues are full of fear and confusion. Her petite frame is trembling from head to toe, and once again, Sideswipe is made aware of just how small she is in comparison to himself. He glances at the wrist he's holding. Dark purple marks are seeping out from what his hand is covering, and slowly, he lets go to reveal the bruise that's forming on her thin wrist.

" _... I don't know what you are trying to do,_ " she speaks with tremor in her voice. It takes everything she has to keep it steady from that point. " _You're accusing me of tricking you? How dare you. I told you before, the only thing Leo knows is that I want to find my savior. You were the only one who I shared this story with, because you seemed earnest and trustworthy._ " She pulls her wrist back, cradling it to her chest. " _I never told anyone else. Are you trying to say that I would expose my savior for money to the world? Or that I ran away from my government because I want the glory to myself?_ " Her voice chokes, and Sideswipe's animosity has long since faded to that of penitence.

" _I'm sorry, if I hurt you. I'm sorry for whatever I did._ " She rises to her feet, tears welling in her eyes as she moves to the table and starts to shove her things inside her bag. " _I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you doubt me like that. It won't happen again. You are the first and last person I will have told this story to. Please be rest assured, do not be worried about your government, as a soldier. This is the last you will certainly hear from me. If you will excuse me, I will finish my work elsewhere. Goodbye._ "

Trusting people is always difficult, in the end.

Her steps are swift as she hastens her pace to a sprint.

The sun certainly is harsh for that afternoon.


	7. Chapter 7

i'm lowkey referencing the transformers toys and the fact that mikaela is teamed up with sideswipe for one of them

also for some reason sideswipe is coming off to me as a tsundere. this is not intentional. stares into the distance. how to sideswipe

also surprisingly i updated within a week. hmm. my muse, don't die on me now...

* * *

Chapter Seven

History repeats itself — but perhaps it can be stopped.

* * *

Sideswipe stares at his hands. Has he done something wrong? He's just doing his job, as an Autobot who needs to ensure that their existence remained a secret from the populace. If it's just him that she had known about, it might have been fine. But she had seen Optimus Prime, she had seen the parachute and thus been exposed to the Autobots' insignia... she had seen Sideways, Demolisher, and perhaps by mistake or coincidence, other Autobots as well.

But he already knows what Optimus will say, if the Prime ever catches light of this incident. Even if it is to protect his people... hurting someone else to protect their secret isn't the right thing to do.

He sighs. Humans are always so fragile. In this aftermath, however, he's dully reminded of his violent actions at Buenos Aires. The humans he had held no regard for back then, they still didn't trust him, and he hadn't warmed up to them much in mutual retrospect either.

Still, he expects that he'll receive a scolding sooner or later. Glancing around to make sure no one is in the area, he deactivates his holoform and starts his alternate form, ultimately deciding to go pick up Sam and Mikaela. As much as he expressed reluctance earlier, they're still part of his responsibility. Failing to protect his charges again... history couldn't repeat itself.

He gives Sam a call on the way, keeping the conversation brief. He can hear the surprise in the other's voice, but fortunately Sam seems to be tactful enough to not rub it in Sideswipe's face.

At least, not too much.

"What made you change your mind?" Sam's grin takes up half his face as he reaches for the driver's door. However, when he discovers it locked, he gives Sideswipe a questioning glance. "... Did I say something wrong?"

" **Mikaela sits in the driver's seat.** " The voice coming from the radio startles Sam, enough to make him let go as the dark-haired woman immediately takes up his offer.

"Thanks," she laughs, sticking her tongue out at Sam. "Sam always takes this spot in Bumblebee. Even if we're not really driving, the feeling is nice."

Sam huffs, dragging his feet to the passenger side. It's tempting to make a smart remark, but lest he incite Sideswipe's rage while the Autobot is being nice, he keeps his words to himself.

"So, I'm guessing you want something from me." When they drive off, Mikaela's eyes are sparkling with amusement.

" **... Not really.** "

"Sideswipe. You're just about as predictable as Sam here."

"Hey!"

" **Why are you putting me on his level?** "

Mikaela taps the wheel lightly. "You're both impulsive and rash, but you think it's for good intentions. You're usually right... most of the time." Her intuition is on point, but that doesn't make it more acceptable for Sideswipe.

Sam whines. "Mikaelaaaa. Why is this the first thing you say to me in weeks?"

"I said something different to you when you greeted me at the gate." Rolling her eyes, she glances at Sam briefly. "It hasn't been that long anyway. I visit you twice a month for a week, and we see each other when we video-chat." She smiles innocently, leaning towards the other. "Unless you'd like me to visit more."

He grins again. "Leo would hate that."

"I don't mind."

" **... I knew I should've left you two with a taxi.** "

"I'm surprised you haven't already," Sam admits. "But you've always been nice to Mikaela and not me, so I guess I'm lucky you're nice to girls?"

" **Both of you are lesser beings, but she's proven her worth.** " There's a faint edge to his voice. " **It's not a matter of gender. I'd treat you all the same. Actions speak louder than anything.** "

"What did you do?" Sam asks curiously, looking to Mikaela to see if she'd share the story.

"Optimus teamed us up for a mission when no one else was available," she replies casually. Sideswipe revs his engine in warning, to which Mikaela gives a short laugh at. "Well, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone exactly what happened. It wasn't a dangerous mission which was why I was allowed to go, although... it did turn dangerous in the end." A hum, as she gives Sam a knowing look. "We helped each other, if you can believe that."

"... I can't see it." Sam shakes his head. "But knowing you? I can imagine." Folding his arms across his chest, he leans back in the seat comfortably. "So, what did you need her help with this time?"

" **This time? Rephrase that before I throw you out of the car.** "

"... First time?" His voice is meek; while he knows Sideswipe wouldn't carry out on his threat immediately, he knows that the Autobot would find some way to express his displeasure... in a way that was not threatening to his life, but perhaps on the same level of violence. Or a prank.

Mikaela taps on the wheel again. "Hey, don't threaten him too much. Save some for me."

"Mikaelaaaaaa..."

Sideswipe sighs through the air conditioning vents. " **Would... you get mad if someone left a bruise on your arm?** "

"On purpose or on accident?" Mikaela arches an eyebrow, curiosity ignited by the strange question.

" **... Both?** "

"... What'd you do this time?"

" **Nothing!** " His voice rises up in denial. " **It's just a question! That person apologized to me instead, and —** "

"You actually gave someone a bruise?"

Mikaela rubs the bridge of her nose. "There's so many things wrong with this conversation already. Sam, stop it." She reaches over and closes the boy's agape mouth. "So... you left a bruise on someone's arm? And they apologized for it? Why are you asking me if I'd get mad then?"

" **Isn't that the normal reaction? Anger when you're hurt?** " Sideswipe scoffs. " **Why, would you apologize if you got hurt?** "

"Not really," Mikaela shakes her head. "Only if I got hurt because of my own stupidity. It doesn't sound like that's the case though." She frowns. "Why did you do it? I know you hate a lot of humans, but if it's not in the midst of a fast-paced battle, I can't see you as the type who'd hurt them."

" **The reason isn't important,** " he says dismissively. " **Just tell me what I should do.** "

Mikaela arches an eyebrow. "The reason is important. If you did it for no reason, you should apologize. If that person did something wrong though, then you might not need to apologize, but I'm sure there were betters way to go about it without violence."

" **I didn't do anything wrong.** " His voice carries a scowl. " **I had my reasons and I wasn't wrong. But... I do acknowledge I shouldn't have hurt them. I'm wondering if there's a shortcut to making bruises heal. All this Internet search is telling me is that I should let it heal naturally.** "

Sam snorts. "We aren't like you guys. Yes, it has to heal naturally. But you can probably give that person painkillers if the bruise is really nasty." He leans forward, intrigued by the situation. "... So who did you hurt?"

" **Who do you think?** " Sideswipe responds bitterly, taking an exit earlier than the university's exit.

"Where are we going?" Sam blinks. "No, wait, I have no idea, that's why I'm asking!"

" **A place where they sell the painkillers you were speaking of,** " he replies flatly. He blatantly ignores the second part of Sam's statement, to which the brunet frowns at.

"Uh... you hate Leo so I don't think you'd buy painkillers for him, even if you did accidentally hurt him." Sam taps his chin, before clapping his hands together in surprise. "Wait! No! You didn't! That girl who has information about the Autobots?"

Mikaela turns her head to the other. "Is this the same girl you told me about? The one who chased Leo around the campus?"

Sam nods enthusiastically. "Remember how I told you she wanted to know about the website he had? And that we suspected she knew about the Autobots. Well, Sideswipe confirmed it before I left to go pick you up." He bites his lip in thought. "But man, I can't believe it. How much does she know? Is that why you hurt her? Hey, that's a really di-"

The car swerves sharply, causing Sam to lurch forward and slam his forehead against the dashboard. "Ow! Sides, I know you did that on purpose!"

" **Good. You can go get those painkillers for yourself too.** "

"..." Provoking the irritated Autobot's anger more is not ideal. So, with the credit card given to him before, the brunet slowly gets out of the car and makes his way to the pharmacy.

Mikaela sighs. "Sideswipe..."

" **Shut up. It's not like I wanted to resort to violence.** "

The dark-haired woman crosses her arms over her chest. "But you did. Is she a Pretender?"

" **No. She doesn't have a Cybertronian signature. Just a... normal, weak human. With information about us.** "

"Have you reported to Optimus yet?"

" **I was... planning to.** "

Mikaela sighs. "What's stopping you?"

" **I don't know how much she knows.** " He pauses. " **Well, at least I didn't before. Now I know she's seen Optimus and the Autobot insignia, but...** "

No words are needed. If he reports to Optimus, then he would request that this girl be brought into custody and under Autobot protection. If it's like that, she would definitely be placed under the radar of the Decepticons, much like how Mikaela and Sam are. And that would be another innocent life dragged into this long-winded war.

Mikaela smiles. _See? You aren't as bad as you make yourself to be._ "You'll make the right decision, I'm sure. But you really should apologize to her."

" **I'm not going to. I told you many times, I don't think what I did was wrong,** " Sideswipe says stubbornly. " **I'll... say that I didn't mean to hurt her. But I did mean to scare her. Hopefully she got the message, so that she can keep the information to herself.** "

"You didn't think she was going to report you guys anyway." Mikaela hums knowingly. "Or else, you would have told Optimus already."

" **...** "

"Though... I think you're wrong. There should have been a better way to handle the situation. Since I wasn't there to see it for myself though..." Mikaela raises both her hands, conceding to his stubbornness. "I'll leave it at that."

* * *

Meixing flinches when there's renewed coldness on her wrist. Even if the ice bag has been changed three times now, it's still difficult to get used to the chill.

"You need to stop working." Rachie's tone is admonishing, carefully returning the other's wrist to its previously elevated position.

"One hand still works." She shakes her head, shooting the other an apologetic look. "I am sorry. You probably have plan to go out because it is Saturday. Instead, you stay behind for me. It is alright to leave me."

"It's fine. I partied too much last night. Plus, I still owe you for what happened."

"The cupcake was enough apology."

Rachie ruffles the top of the other's head. "Meimei, just be quiet and accept my help. I still can't believe you had such a nasty fall and got your wrist caught up in your backpack strap though. No wonder it looks so weird. If I didn't know better, I would have thought a person did that to you. You'd kick their ass though, if they did." Rachie grins. "Are you sure you don't want to see the nurse?"

The Asian woman gives a soft laugh. "It just bruise," she says. "... Though, what I tell you about call me Meimei?"

"I'm not going to stop~" The green-eyed woman huffs and turns around, reaching for her wallet. "I'm going to go out and eat some food to eat. What do you want?"

"I'm fi—"

"Right, I shouldn't be asking you anyway. I'll see what I find and bring it back to you."

"You need to listen to what people say." The words she speaks are lost as the American rushes out the room, drowning out her roommate's protests with incoherent babbling.

The room is silent. Meixing places her pencil down and lifts her right hand, gingerly tapping the bruise on her left wrist through the bag of ice. The pain has faded slightly, though it still throbs. It has been a very long time since she has seen something this similar.

There's a knock on the door, jolting her from her thoughts. Meixing arches an eyebrow. "Rachie, you forget to bring key?" The petite woman shakes her head, supporting the ice bag with her free hand as she makes her way to the door. Twisting the doorknob, she doesn't wait for the other to enter, thus her back is turned to the entrance as soon as she opens the door.

"Xiao xing."

She knows the nickname as much as she knows the voice. Freezing in place, she does not turn around at the recognition.

"... What is it?" Ignoring him is not practical, even if her heart is pounding in fear.

"I —" He pauses in his words, before continuing in tenser tones. "I... have medicine for you."

"Take it. Do not need it." No, she must get this situation over with. Inhaling sharply, she turns to face the one whom she thought she could call a friend before. Now, all she sees is a stranger. "I thought I make it clear before. I apologize before too. Do not know what else you want."

She sees that a box of painkillers are in his hand. She frowns at that.

"Besides, would not need medicine if did not meet you in the first place."

Sideswipe's seemingly remorseful look turns hostile in an instant. "Hey! That's not fair. You're making it sound like I'm the bad guy here."

"You said it, not me." She takes a step back, casting her glance to the side.

"Listen, I had a reason for doing that."

"I know. I am sure you did," she sighs. "That does not justify hurting someone, however." She lifts her non-injured arm, palm facing the other in a form of refusal. "We be even. I make you angry, so I do not get medicine. It is fair."

He recoils in anger. "I don't like the way you worded that."

They were borderline manipulative, if not completely. Twisting the situation so she was the victim when she had been the one to withhold information in the first place—!

"I see. I am sorry you feel like that." Brown hues turn to focus on the taller man. " _Look... I know you probably did what you thought was right. It's obvious I did something to make you mistrust me, even if I was clear in my honesty. I don't blame you for that, it's my fault for not establishing myself as a better friend. I remember you are a soldier. Your hostility must be out of loyalty to your country. However..._ " Her brows crease into a frown. " _Do you honestly believe this kind of friendship can work, if you don't trust me? It seems you did not trust me from the start. And..._ " She glances towards her wrist. " _I believe violence was not necessary. I did not hit you first._ "

" _So you're mad at me._ "

"Not mad. Disappointed." Her smile is wry. "You have not apologized for hurting me physically. If you cannot see why that was wrong, then I —"

"I didn't mean to hurt you." His tone is laced with frustration. "It wasn't intentional. I shouldn't have done it. I mean, I didn't want to let you get away in case you would run, but—"

"Why would I run?" Meixing's own voice is full of exasperation, collapsing onto her bed as she stares at him in disbelief. "I truly do not know you. It seem I am right to say you were hostile for country, but I still not know what I say that could put your country in danger. It looked like you were angry for my savior, but I cannot fathom why."

"That's because I can't tell you!" Frustration increases in volume as he takes a step towards her. Meixing flinches, causing him to halt in place. Hostility is replaced by veiled confusion. The expression that takes place on her countenance is one that is familiar, one that he recalls in Buenos Aires.

Fear and mistrust.

"... You're afraid of me."

It's not a question. And when she does not respond immediately, his shoulder slumps in realization.

"I would be fool if I was not afraid," she admits. "It is not entirely your fault. My weak resolve is to blame."

 _I really haven't learned my lesson from back then._ Sideswipe crouches down, running a hand through his hair as a heavy sigh leaves his lips. What a troublesome situation. Humans... humans are weak. They're lesser beings. And yet because of their helplessness, that's why they have to protect them. They were innocent. He can be merciless on the battlefield — this is war they are in, after all.

Yet, he is not a warrior right now.

He hesitates. Then, he removes his hand from silver-streaked hair and holds it out to the other. Shaking hands is a common way for humans to show peace, isn't it?

"Meixing," he begins. "I... I want to start over again. I want to trust you and I want you to trust me."

She stares at the offered hand, clenching her own hand into a fist.

"I'm the best fighter on my team. A combat instructor for other soldiers. I wanted revenge on this person before, but that's been taken away from me. Now, I don't really know what to do." If only his brother were here — alas, he must cope with his absence in another way. "I've... never really tried to make a friend with civilians. Maybe that's why Optimus chose me to be 'Bee's replacement." He's earnest, but can she see that? "Before what happened this afternoon, you knew me. We were laughing. I'm not a scary guy." He must make amends. He doesn't know this woman would do if she were to feel wronged.

Though... it's not only because of that now. A genuine effort to look past his derogatory view of humans. She is the best bridge for that. They were not strangers, after all.

Meixing keeps her gaze averted, but his hand remains outstretched towards her.

"Do not forgive you yet," she says. He remains steadfast, though it's a battle to retain emotions of guilt and frustration. "But you say you want to learn how to be friend with normal people?" Scooting to the edge of her bed, she keeps her body language secluded. Shoulders stiff and arms pressed to her body, she keeps her brown hues focused to the wall.

"I think, it will take time. And effort." But she reaches out, lightly tapping the palm of his hand with a single finger. "But I learn too. Warning though, I hold grudges."

Her willingness to forgive him eventually is good enough for him. Slowly, a bright grin spreads upon his face. For the first time, he actually feels like he wants to hug a human.

"However, I have one question." Finally, she locks gazes with him. "You know who savior is, don't you?"

He croaks. Or at least, the sound that comes out of his mouth is neither Cybertronian nor human. He lets his hand drop down to his side and he settles to sitting on the floor. This time, it is his time to look away.

If they were to start trusting each other again, there should be honesty. But why did she have to start with that question off the bat? How is he supposed to answer that without compromising this entire situation?

She gauges his expression and sighs. "Your reaction is answer enough. That is it. I said it was only one question. But now it makes sense why you persistent in my story." Lifting herself from the bed, she walks past the seated man and makes her way to the desk. "... I was telling truth, like I said before. No one except you really knows."

"I know." His voice is soft, with brows creasing into a frown as he turns his head to try and meet her gaze again. "I just assumed the worst. But you're so ridiculously straightforward, it's hard for me to see you being dishonest now." At least, the one he has interacted with these past few days presents herself as such.

"I see. The same for you." She glances back at him. "I said that we would not hear from each other, but I am not good at that kind of resolve, it seems."

"It's because I'm irresistible," he laughs lightly. "You said it yourself! I'm cute and loyal!"

A small huff in response to his boasting. "Perhaps. Your personality is horrible though."

"That's rig — no, hey!" Sideswipe pouts, turning on his bottom to fully face the other.

Her countenance bears bemusement. "Give me painkillers before I change my mind, dear friend-in-training."

Sideswipe rises to his feet, approaching the desk with the box of painkillers at hand. When he notices her stiffen, however, he stops in his tracks again. Pursing his lips in thought, he decides to approach from her right side. "Here. I'll get going now. I'll see you soon?" He places the box on the desk gingerly, as if doing so otherwise would startle her.

She does not lift her head. "I suppose so." Readjusting the ice bag on her left wrist, she sighs and places her pencil down. "No, it is proper if I see you out."

He arches an eyebrow. "Is that necessary? The door is right there."

"Is how I was raised."

"Oh? You sure you're not making excuses?" He grins, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Excuses for what?" She rises to her feet, giving him a questioning look as they walk towards the door. She's the one who turns the doorknob, pulling the door open and motioning for him to exit.

"I... nevermind." He shakes his head in amusement, lifting a hand in a gesture of goodbye as he makes his way down the hall. Meixing stands in the doorway, watching his exit before he turns around the corner and disappears.

With a sigh, the petite Asian steps back inside her room and closes the door.

"... Now, I wonder how I can repay him for my wrist."


	8. Chapter 8

rjdskdsakdasd y'all are too sweet!

also i totally forgot the new transformers movie was coming out... i wonder when i can go see it cries. have y'all seen it already~? in any case, hehe, more slice of life things~ however? small spoilers, things will start picking up next chapter!

* * *

Chapter Eight

She'll never look at pranks the same way again.

* * *

"I want revenge."

"Meimei, if those words come from your mouth, it doesn't seem like a joke."

"It is not."

Those three words instigate a look of terror upon her roommate's face. Placing the magazine down, she stares at Meixing cautiously, as if this is a reality she has trouble accepting.

"... I thought you said you were against violence."

Meixing blinks. "I am."

The blonde's look of caution shifts to wariness. "Then what kind of revenge..."

"A prank," she hurriedly fills in the blanks, after observing that Rachie is genuine with her expressions. She had forgotten that Rachie is the type to jump to conclusion quickly. And those conclusions aren't always the most realistic ones in their outcome. "On Sideswipe."

"You want to put a prank on the _Chángquán_ kick? I don't think that's realistic."

Meixing scowls and picks up her pillow, flinging it at the other woman. "You know that not what I mean." Grumbling to herself, she pulls herself off her bed and makes her way to her desk.

"Sorry, sorry." Rachie places her hands up in defeat, sitting cross-legged on her own bed as she observes the other. "He has such a weird name, I couldn't help but tease."

"Is his nickname." Meixing shrugs in response. "Better not to judge."

"You have evening classes today, don't you?" Rachie points out. "You think you have time? I can help you with revenge, but if you want it to be effective, it's gonna take a few hours most likely."

Meixing nods. "Does not need be complicated. I think simple but meaningful prank is fine." She smiles. "Longer I wait, longer I feel irritated."

"What'd he do? He seemed like a nice guy."

The Chinese woman shakes her head. "Nothing wrong in particular. Think of it as... revenge for carrying me." She turns to the other. "So, what kind of prank can you come up with?"

Rachie hums, furrowing her brows in contemplation. After a moment of deliberation, her expression brightens and she claps her hands together eagerly. "Does he have a car?"

* * *

Did he find anything suspicious? After texting him and asking him where he parked, she hoped to build on the assumption that she needed him for something. Thus, in order to get him away from his car, she then asked him to meet her elsewhere after getting the location of the parking lot he put his car in.

It shouldn't have been that suspicious.

Although then again, if Meixing saw someone carrying eight plastic bags of sticky notes, she'd be suspicious right away. Good thing she's the suspicious one instead!

"Rachie, you better distract him for long time..." Meixing mutters, making her trek through the parking lot in search of the expensive silver car. Fortunately she remembers the car he drove, and judging by its appearance, she's counting on the fact that it's not a common car to be driven. Apparently, it's a high class car. That makes it all the more ideal to use the poor car as the victim of her revenge. She admits it's a shame, since from what she remembers of it, it seemed to be well-maintained.

It's okay. It's not like she's denting it. Just giving it a harmless makeover.

He's not a student, but strangely enough, he has a parking permit meant for students. Perhaps the school has acknowledged him as one, due to his connections? Regardless, it takes her a few minutes, but after the car population began to thin out, she spots the silver car that had nearly run her over last week.

"Ah," she whispers in victory. "There you are." Perhaps she should have expected that someone like Sideswipe would park in a spot away from the other students. The sun shines brightly over their heads, reflecting off the headlights and paint nicely.

So clean that even the sun reflects off of it. She almost feels bad for what she's about to do. Almost.

She settles at the driver's side, plopping down all her bags and stretching her arms out. "Hmm~" She grins, crouching down and inspecting the car. "Where should I put it first..." Digging into one bag and pulling out a thick pad of sticky notes, she eyes it in serious contemplation. Even if the most she's hoping for out of Rachie is thirty minutes of a distraction, she should still do a neat job.

Pranks aren't her forte. She's usually an observer of other victims. In fact... she remembers faintly being one that looked down on other people who did pranks during school. It had been a waste of time, she had said before.

This is different though, she tells herself. It's not high school anymore, where everything built up for one's future. Besides, perhaps every once in a while, people do deserve to unwind. So long as the prank is not harmful to other people...

"I will start with driver door," she says in finality. Pulling off one sticky note, she exhales softly. "Lime green is good color." With a short laugh, her intention is to place the sticky note on the car slowly, lest using force causes a small dent.

Except her hand stops millimeters away from the door. Not by her hesitation or change of mind...

Someone is gripping her wrist, gently but firmly.

How did this new shadow cast over her escape her notice? Meixing slowly tilts her head upwards to meet the bright blue gaze of Sideswipe, whose expression is that of amusement.

"Well, Xiao xing, didn't think you had this in you. I must admit... you surprised even me."

She is certain that her skin is losing its color. Opening her mouth, she means to ask what happened to Rachie, but what comes out of her mouth is a suppressed squeaky imitation of her roommate's name.

"Oh, uh... she's still on campus. I figured something was up when you didn't show up." The smirk that tilts on his lips makes her want to slam the sticky note onto his face instead. "You really thought that you could get one up on the king of pranks~?"

Now that she's aware of his presence, she notices that she's pretty much caged in. He's standing over her, but his legs are bent and his feet are apart enough to prevent her from leaving from her south side. One of his hands is gripping her right wrist, preventing her from placing the sticky note in her planned position. The only part that's free is her left side, in a way; although the bruise still hurts which is why he hasn't touched that aside, Sideswipe's left hand rests on his bent left knee, blocking off that way of escape.

The question currently is, did he plan on exacting his revenge on her revenge? If that is the case, then it was not fair! He totally had it coming!

Her lips twist into a pout and her cheeks flush in irritated embarrassment. He had caught her, somehow; she had thought that her plan was perfect. Rachie had been eager to help too, so Meixing dearly did not want to suspect that her roommate had croaked so easily.

It's her defeat... for the moment. There's no way she's going to concede so easily.

"You are king of pranks?" She asks, blinking innocently up at him. He hums in acknowledgment.

"I don't mean to brag, well I do, but—"

"If you king, then I am underdog!"

Meixing hastily grabs the sticky note in her right hand with her left hand, then slapping the note onto the door in front of her. An elbow goes out to land a soft hit in his abdomen, which is enough of a sneak attack to cause him to release his grip for a moment.

Then she rolls out to the left, snatching one plastic bag and scrambling to her feet, making a break back to her dorm without daring to look back. Of course, she doesn't expect to outrun Sideswipe, who's just as athletic as he looks.

As shown by the fact he's already hoisting her over his shoulder. Curses.

"I... I have class!" She protests, kicking her feet out.

"No worries, I'm not kidnapping you away from campus." She can't see his expression, so it's difficult to tell if he's angry by this turn of events. Although since her face is facing the parking lot, she can see his car. Unfortunately, they're far enough so that she can't see if he has removed the sticky note. "Geez, you act like I'm going to squish you or something."

"Are you... not mad?"

"Well, for one, your prank failed."

Meixing huffs and turns her head to the side.

"For two, you didn't dent me. My car." He coughs to correct himself. "So I'll let that little attack slide... for now."

"Wonderful."

"Still, I stand by my point that I didn't think you would try and pull a prank on me." Sideswipe's laughter fills the air as the familiar sidewalk comes into view. "Least of all, targeting my car. I underestimated you."

His tone of voice changes, and even Meixing can imagine the shit-eating grin that's growing on his face.

"However, don't think you'll get away with this."

She groans. "Was revenge for the bruise. You should let it go."

"The bruise wasn't a prank. Since you attacked me with a prank, I'll fight back with a prank."

"That makes you sound more horrible."

"... my bad."

Silence fills the space between them. Perhaps he hadn't meant to utter that short apology, however, it's... something. And worth appreciating, since they've come this far getting along.

"It fine. So I just have to watch my back, yes?" She waves her hand around. "You can put me down now. Oh, and do not prank while I in class. Or else will seriously murder you."

"We'll see." He whistles. "I don't usually give preemptive warnings for my pranks. Consider yourself lucky."

"Yes. I am so very happy." Her voice is laced with sarcasm as she pats his back. "Now put me down."

"Hmm... I wonder what I should do."

She doesn't stop patting his back. In fact, it increases in harshness, and after thirty seconds he relents and places her on the ground begrudgingly. His expression is cross as he reaches over and rubs at his back, giving her a pointed look. However, he supposes that he had it coming.

Again. Maybe he should stop ticking her off so much.

"I'll be leaving now," she says. "Unlike a certain someone with infinite free time, I have class."

Sideswipe arches an eyebrow, leaning towards her. "A certain someone? I wonder who could that be."

She tilts her head up. "You might as well attend class if you lounging around so much."

"My job here is for a different purpose."

"Yes, replacing a bee, correct?" She frowns. "Is that military term for something else?"

Ah. He remembers their conversation from a few days ago and snickers. The fact she isn't questioning the mention of Optimus, rather, Bumblebee, is amusing in itself.

"You could say that," he hums. "Now I thought you had class?"

She scowls and turns around without a word. Although she will not see it, he waves goodbye. Truly, it is quite the entertainment to tease her.

Now, to get about that revenge prank... he shall show her what a real prank is like.

* * *

Meixing rolls her right shoulder, groaning in irritation as she waits for the rest of the class to leave. Another lecture dragged past the designated time, however, she cannot fault the professor this time. Students who ask questions that the professor will cover in the next slide... they should know better, since the slides are given in a handout beforehand.

That fact that it is a night class does not make matters better. However, she supposes this is how class will go for the rest of the semester. Hoisting her backpack over her shoulder, she bids the professor a good night before making her way back to her dorm. A disadvantage to having class this late is that dinner will also come late. However, it's tiring to go out and find something to eat, especially since everything on campus closes at this time.

"I probably have cup noodle..." She mutters to herself, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "If Rachie did not eat it already." Her roommate did tend to have a liking for the food Meixing had. It's burdensome on her food stock but boosts her pride all the same.

The walk to her room seems long. When she arrives, however, it is not quiet like usual. There is an entourage of whispers and soft laughter, with Meixing realizing that it comes from the crowd of people just nearby her room.

"What is..." Pardoning herself through the river of people, she eventually makes it to where her dorm door is... or at least, to where it should be. For some reason, instead of the wooden brown that should be her door, it is multiple rows that make up a rainbow.

"Our first freshman prank of the year," someone says. "They really outdid themselves this time, pfft."

"Poor girl. It'll take forever to clean. Wonder what the inside looks like?"

It does not take long for the muttering to begin centering around Meixing. Someone even approaches her right side and grins at her. "Hey, open up your dorm? We're guessing there's more damage inside."

She's gaping too much to even spare a moment to glare at them. However, she also wants to see the extent of this prank. Shoving her key into the doorknob none-too-gently, she hears the crowd takes steps after her. It's quite comedic to the ear, as she holds her breath and slowly pushes the door open.

Leprechauns would be putting pots of gold in her room by now.

In unison, gasps of horror and awe move down the crowd. Meixing continues to gape at the damage, eyes unbelieving yet mouth dropped open in a small circle. A few camera clicks are heard, and Meixing can even hear the soft whir of a camera adjusting, indicating that a video is being taken.

" _Damn it..._ " She curses under her breath, dropping her backpack onto the floor in anger. Sticky notes everywhere, placed quite neatly despite their numbers, and all in an array of different colors... he had taken her original idea and taken it to the extreme. She knows a losing battle when she sees one. Where is the culprit? He should be basking in his glory, at this rate...

Ah, wait. She sees one note with writing on it. It's placed at the very corner of her sticky-note covered bed, however, so she'll have to trek carefully. Actually, does she want to be careful? If she walks carelessly, the sticky notes will get crumpled, but at least they'll be removed from the floor. She can't deny, though, that there's a part of her that seriously appreciates the meticulousness of this prank. It'd be a shame to destroy it for now.

Even she can't help but slowly take her own phone out to take pictures. Curses. If Sideswipe sees this, he'd definitely be gloating.

"So, Miss Wang!" The RA makes her way over, grinning sheepishly as she holds a makeshift microphone to the Asian woman. "How do you feel about being this floor's first victim of a freshman prank?"

Meixing blinks, unnerved by the sudden attention. She has only met her once, on the first day, but otherwise she didn't think they were in the position to be so... talkative with each other.

"Um. It is very irritating. But also admirable." She gathers her thoughts quickly, not wanting to present her choppy English when she's the center of attention again. Her face flushes, though, as she has never been the biggest fan of publicity.

"Do you know the person who pranked you?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Oh? Are they here tonight then?" She continues inquiring, waving her hand out to the crowd of people. Meixing spares them a glance, acknowledging that they are all eager to know who pulled this off.

"I do not see him. However... a message if you can hear this." Meixing narrows her eyes. "Watch your butt tomorrow. It might get kicked."

A series of 'oohs' resonate throughout the crowd. The RA laughs and decides to leave the conversation at that, proceeding to usher everyone into their rooms. It's almost curfew, but the prank had drawn everyone out like mice to cheese. It's interesting to see how prank culture works here after all.

"Now... where Rachie go. I know he did not come inside himself." Leaving the outside of her door and the surrounding outside walls alone for now, Meixing steps in carefully and closes the door behind her. It takes all but one second, however, when she notices Sideswipe on her bed, smirking devilishly as he waves at the young woman.

" _Son of a bitch!_ " She yells out, stepping backwards and slipping on a sticky note in surprise. And she has no idea how, but somehow he makes it from her bed to the front of her door in less than a second, an arm swooping out to securely slip around her waist.

She stiffens in surprise, looking up at the other who doesn't break his smug look of amusement. However, worry does flicker for a second on his features. Seeing that she's in no position to get hurt now, however, he defers back to smugness.

"A turtle egg, huh? Your insults could use some work," he says. Her look of astonishment turns cross in a second as she folds her arms across her chest.

"Obviously, you not know context. Learning language literally does you no good." Huffing in frustration, she lifts a hand and lightly taps at his shoulder. "Lift me up now. This angle is uncomfortable."

He arches an eyebrow. "Don't girls like it? Being caught by a prince charming like this?"

"Believe me, you are anything but."

"Hmm... how about like this~?"

Meixing lets out a yelp at he swoops her lower, hands reaching out to grip at his shirt as a form of security. His smirk is back on his face (as if it ever left in the first place) as he whistles casually.

"Geez, so aggressive, Xiao xing."

" _Shut up!_ " Her face flushes red. " _Pull me up! You'll make me puke at this rate!_ "

" _Can't you pull yourself up?_ " He uses his free hand to motion to the vice-like grip she has on his shirt. Then, the arm around her waist pulls her closer to his body, making no room for escape. She knows this very well, thus the glare directed at him.

" _... are you always so irritating?_ " She huffs, waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

He hums innocently, pulling the other upright yet not releasing his arm. "Define 'irritating'."

"You a lost cause," she says in exasperation. Meixing wiggles herself out of his hold, taking care as she steps on the sticky notes on the path to her desk. "How you get in anyway?"

"Rachie."

"... Of course," she scowls. "Did not see you when opening door earlier though."

"... Uh." He looks away, coughing lightly. "I was hiding in your closet?"

"Why you asking like a question?"

"... so, how'd you like the prank?"

Meixing arches an eyebrow. "Your effort to change topic is not subtle."

"Didn't think you'd like my answer," he says tersely.

Ever the strange man. Yet she supposes she cannot fault him for it. She has no room to judge, if this is simply the way culture works here in America. "Well... you not kidding, for sure."

"I'm a very serious mech who makes very serious decisions." He even makes the effort to make his face serious, though it quickly fades to a lighthearted grin. "But yeah, no, I take my pranks and give them my full attention. Your expression was very funny."

She figures 'mech' must be slang for 'man'. "Even I will admit... this dedication can be admirable."

"You even took a picture."

Meixing turns her head away, ignoring his pointed observation. "Well, since you here... help me clean it."

He laughs. "No can do. I have places to be." As in, he's purposefully avoiding staying for the purpose of helping her clean.

"Sideswipe..."

He's already at the door, waving goodbye. "Sorry, Xiao xing. I don't clean up after my victims. Have fun though~ I'll see you soon." Then, with a wink, he hastily opens the door and sprints down the hallway.

Meixing pinches the bridge of her nose. "He acts like I will disembowel him." Shaking her head, her lips form a pout as she glances over the room. Lest there be another falling accident, she supposes that she has no choice but to clean it all up.

One more picture for the road though.

When Rachie returns, Meixing does make sure to give the other a good scolding about the day's events. The other is certainly at fault for letting Sideswipe into the room, although Rachie justified it as both of them knowing the other, so she figured it was alright to let him sticky-note the room.

"It is your room too," Meixing says dryly.

"Yeah yeah, but you were the main victim." Rachie fingerguns at the other, who simply picks up a sticky note and flings it half-heartedly at the other.

"Get back to cleaning."

"Yes, ma'am."

"This is your fault anyway," Meixing sighs. "If you had distracted him longer... I could have gotten sufficient revenge."

"About that—" the other perks up, pulling off another sticky note. "I only met him for a few minutes, right? We started off talking, but then he got this really weird look on his face and said he had to leave right away. Then he zoomed off like his life was on the line or something." Rachie scratches her cheek. "I didn't spill the beans... but the timing of that was really weird."

"Huh." The Chinese woman blinks at that. "You think... he have someone to warn him when he saw me near car?"

"Maybe?" She shrugs. "Why don't you ask him?"

She shakes her head. "It might be part of his job. Sideswipe keeps things like that secretive or vague."

"Yeesh, you really picked someone who'll make you chase your own tail, huh?" Rachie wipes an imaginary tear from her cheek. "My poor meimei..."

"... Make me do what now?"

"I... nevermind."

"Don't call me meimei anyway. Go back to cleaning."

"... Yes, ma'am."

"By the way, where are my cup noodles?"

"..."

"..." Meixing walks over and presses more sticky notes onto Rachie's face. The other simply gives an apologetic grin and accepts her punishment.


	9. Chapter 9

hello everyone! it's been a while uvu school kicked my butt. but every time i feel nostalgic and reread my old stuff it kinda gives me motivation to write again, so here i am!

answering some smol questions: sideswipe, and all the other transformers that will be appearing soon, have solid holoforms! it's a borrowed concept i've seen in a lot of fanfictions, and although no one has really explained the science behind it... well, it's a series with giant talking robots so i'm not too concerned about that xD

thank you all for your kind words! you really don't know how much they all mean to me. honestly, your reviews are part of why i still come back and decide to update. thank you all for sticking with me through thick and thin!

for icanhascamaro though: i'd definitely read a story with the avatar concept. i love the transformers a lot so seeing them in that kind of story would be very interesting~

i also wanna draw meixing and sideswipe's holoform lol so i'll prolly post it on tumblr one of these days

anyway, reminder that italics spoken is chinese!

* * *

Chapter Nine

Things start to unravel out of her control.

* * *

With her head dangling off the edge of her bed, Meixing's gaze upon the novel before her is narrowed and full of unease. Of course, part of this may be attributed to the fact that reading upside-down isn't good for the blood in her head, but there's another pressing question that slips past her lips soon enough.

"You ever wonder how history change because of people changing things?"

Loud slurping comes from the other side of the room, to which Meixing's eye twitches at.

"Oh!" Another moment of silence for Rachie to gulp down the noodles ― wait, those are _her_ noodles! ― before she swivels around in her chair to look at Meixing. "I know what you mean! Like, a tooon of American history does that, covering up and changing or omitting―"

"Rachie," Meixing interrupts. "Stop. We not that kind of story. Best not to bring up modern social conflicts since we're still about eight years in past."

"What?"

"Was talking about my novel." Meixing sits up, the blood slowly flowing back to the normal parts of her body. "Heard of it? Called Romance of Three Kingdoms in English. In my Chinese history class today, I learned that was not Guan Yu who killed Hua Xiong, but Sun Jian. Feel very betrayed."

Rachie props her feet back onto her chair, arching an eyebrow. "I've heard the name. I also know it's a novel. Aren't novels usually written for money? So the author of that novel must've changed some facts to make it more interesting."

A good point. Meixing's lips jut out into a pout as she closes the book. "Makes me wonder if all heroes I knew are just fake." A pause. "Well, I take that back. Know one hero that is real."

With Rachie spinning absentmindedly after finishing her lunch, Meixing doesn't expect for the other to catch onto the last part. Yet by some cursed god's ability she does and suddenly the blonde slams a foot onto the floor, harshly halting her chair and looking towards Meixing expectantly. "Who's your hero, eh? Ehhhh?" She waggles her eyebrows as if to suggest a common person they both know, but Meixing arches her own eyebrows in response.

"You no need to know."

Meixing's refusal doesn't cease Rachie's persistence. Her roommate makes quick strides and plops herself onto Meixing's bed, letting out a loud whine. "Why are you always leaving me outta the good gossip?"

"Explain."

"The past few days, you're always being stared at." Rachie crosses her arms over her chest. "So I think you've been the center of really good gossip that you don't want to share with your best friend. At least, the people who's been staring at you just make it seem like they really wanna talk to you."

"... Have not noticed." Meixing's back straightens with the new information.

Rachie grins and pulls her smartphone from her pocket. "I thought you'd deny it. Here, look at your new fans." She pulls a picture up and shows it to Meixing.

The Chinese woman takes a moment, blanches, and shoves Rachie off her bed lightly. "You imbecile. That just Sideswipe's friends. Gave me a scare for nothing."

"He has _friends_? And here I thought he had nothing better to do than to bother you every other hour."

"Right?" Meixing sighs heavily. "Ever since that pranking incident, I think it unlocked new side of him. He seems more childish than when we first met." She twists her brows into a frown. "Or maybe too much credit for him? He still act like a kid when we first meet actually."

"Who are these new 'friends' of his anyway?" Rachie lifts her hands to make quotation marks in the air, although the smile on her face is unmistakable; she's quite enjoying Meixing's response to this right now.

Meixing shrugs. "Don't know the pretty girl. But that one Sam and that one Leo." She points to each person respectively. "I think the girl is one that Sam mentioned before though. He mentioned wanting to pick up someone a few days ago."

"Pfft― seriously?" Rachie spits out before bursting out into laughter, holding her stomach as she attempts to continue speaking. "Oh god, this is just too rich! A campus with more than two thousand students and somehow those two, er three I guess, are always somehow in the same area as you! This is too much of a coincidence to not even be a coincidence!"

Meixing cringes. "You think?" Lifting a hand to her mouth, she bites on a thumbnail. "What you think they want? I have no money."

"Maybe they want Chinese lessons?" Rachie shrugs, to which Meixing scowls at and flings a slipper off her foot to hit her.

"Take this seriously. I could be robbed today and you never know."

"I highly doubt you'd be the one who suffered." However, as compensation, Rachie scoots closer to the edge of the bed Meixing was sitting on and slips the slipper back on. "Well, if it bothers you so much, you could just ask."

She's not entirely against that idea. In fact, normally she wouldn't be afraid of confrontation at all. There's also the past fact that Meixing has bothered the two males to the point where it should be them who's concerned about their well-being (well, that's water under the bridge now). "They... are Sideswipe's friends." She sighs. "I guess I shouldn't make it a big deal." They had a mutual friend and a previous acquaintanceship on two parts; perhaps she's just being too paranoid.

"Still, how have I not noticed?" Meixing mumbles. "My senses getting dull."

"Three people among many. You're not a superhero."

"What about that saying, where you feel someone stare at you?" Meixing rises up from her bed, sighing again as she made her way to the coat rack.

Rachie shrugs. "I heard it's just a form of anxiety and self-consciousness. The fact that you don't really feel that means you're not an anxious person." She gives two thumbs up to Meixing. "Meimei, that's a good thing, ain't it?"

"Some would call me carefree, in that case." She snorted. "No matter. What done be done. I will leave to school bookstore to buy supplies. Have a project coming up soon."

"Group or solo?" Rachie asks, watching Meixing slip her jacket on.

"Group. Why? You gonna help me?"

"Hah, you're picking up sarcasm quite quickly." Rachie waves her off. "Nah, but I hope your group is good. Good luck~"

"Good luck..." She repeats, stepping out of the door and making her way down the hallway. "Why would I need luck? We just do work and get good grade." She reaches into her pocket, pulling out her phone and checking the time. Deciding that she still had a couple minutes until the designated time she was supposed to meet her group outside the bookstore, her steps are taken at her own leisure.

It's a bit chilly today. The campus is mostly empty again; weekends tends to draw students into parties and the like, just like always. Meixing finds it hard to believe that it's only been her third weekend here ― where did the time go? Rubbing the side of her head, a smile tugs at her lips as she mulls over how productive her week has been. Only lectures and notes for the week. She had an essay for her Literature class due next week based on the novel they read the past week, and there was the group project for her Sociology class, but other than that, college life isn't as hectic as all those comics made it out to be.

Or maybe this is the calm before the storm. Meixing figures that could be the case, since one of the courses she's taking is infamous for the amount of papers that need to be written. With a determined huff to herself, she claps her hands together. And a few minutes later, she's in front of the bookstore to find―

― Not one of her group members waiting there.

Alright. She'll wait a few minutes. Although tardiness is one of her pet peeves, she'll wait. Standing there in the chilly wind, she takes frequent glances to the time on her phone. Five minutes, then ten minutes pass and there's not a single soul in sight.

Meixing heaves a frustrated sigh, turning on her heel and walking inside the bookstore. The only ones inside the store is the cashier and a few mingling students; there are no familiar faces. She sends two messages; one already complaining to Rachie and another informative message in the group text chat while scouring the store for the novels she needs for the project and a poster-board, but they're sold out for the weekend.

Wonderful. She thanks the cashier for their time before quietly walking out of the store. Meixing only takes a few steps before she lets out a screech, to which only a few passing students stop to give a concerned stare. Great, when there's no one around for miles she can be happy, but the moment she decides to let out a little frustration, now she has an audience?! Way to jinx that college life going well.

" _They so read that,_ " she begins to hiss to herself, pacing back and forth. " _We planned this in class on Wednesday. How dare they ditch me like this? Two pm on a Saturday, I doubt they're asleep._ " Still, she wants to give them some benefit of a doubt, so she continues to pace while holding her phone in one hand. Another ten minutes pass before her phone rings and she picks up immediately ― though it's not who she wants to really hear at the moment.

" _Hello?_ "

" _Hey, Xiao xing, I heard you're in a bit of trouble~_ "

His voice isn't exactly unwelcome, she supposes. Still, she doesn't repress the groan that slips from her throat. " _Somehow, I wish you were one of my group members instead._ "

"I'm flattered. I'm a busy mech, y'know?" He boasts. Meixing rolls her eyes, shoulders releasing the tension that had been built up over the past twenty minutes. "Also, switching back to English. I know you use Chinese when you're mad, so I figured I should get you to calm down a little."

"How thoughtful," she retorts. Still, it's a conditioned response in her that he seems to know rather well. Of course, being on the receiving end of her anger has probably familiarized Sideswipe in ways to deal with her at this point. "So? You heard I in trouble. I don't suppose you offer help."

"Why, since you asked so nicely!" The cheer in his voice makes it easy for Meixing to visualize that broad grin of his. "Where do you need to go?"

Meixing looks around, wondering if he's just off to the side, snickering to himself. "Any office supply store. Oh, and bookstore. Need some novels." She switches the hand holding her phone so she can wipe off the sweat building up from her previous rage. If Sideswipe will take her, then she has no reason to refuse. The thought of owing him a favor makes her hesitant to, but she figures she can pay for his coffee along the way or something. He seemed to enjoy it last time.

"Got it." A small bout of silence, which makes Meixing wonder if he already hung up. "Alright, remember the parking lot where you tried to prank me and failed?"

"How could I forget."

"We're going to head in that direction~"

"We...?" Meixing takes a step back to see if it'll give her a wider view of the area, but lets out a surprised yelp when her back comes into contact with another person. Hearing that laugh makes her tilt her head up, brown hues meeting those bright blue hues that can only belong to that irritating, reliable man.

She wrinkles her nose at him, ending the call and shoving her phone back into the pocket of her jacket. Before she takes a step away from him though, he reaches out and gives her a one-armed hug around her shoulders, pulling her back to his chest a bit roughly. Meixing shoots him a warning look but makes no move to pull away from the friendly embrace just yet.

"It's been a while, Xiao xing." His free hand reaches up to scratch at his cheek. The motion looks rather sheepish to her, and were it not for her previous impressions of Sideswipe, she'd say it made him look more boyish. "Sorry I haven't visited you in person the past few days. I figured you were busy with classes and all."

That hasn't really been a concern of his before. It's not like she had been bothered by his absence though; he had still bothered her over texts and brief calls.

"As long as you were okay," she says, deciding that because he decided to address it this time, it might be something he really does feel guilty about. "No need to visit every day though. Not like we're lovers or family." Even by that standard, she thought she'd get tired of seeing the same face every day. Lord knows the reasons she takes an hour walk every night is because she needs a break from her roommate.

Meixing lifts a hand to pat at his arm. Sideswipe laughs and releases the smaller woman from his grip, settling for ruffling her hair just for the sake of teasing her before taking one step back to give her some space.

"You're right," he muses. "I guess we aren't. Still, I graced you with my wonderful presence every day before that, so I figured I should give you some explanation." He moves a hand to his hip. "Too bad tough Meixing didn't miss me though. I could've teased you more."

She turns to him while fixing her hair, arching a brow. "Who said I didn't miss you?"

"Ah ― "

Her response flies above both their heads but returns to give Meixing a good kick in the butt. Sideswipe blinks rapidly, a bewildered expression flickering across his visage while Meixing slaps her cheeks to give an excuse for the color that's surely building on them right now.

"Nevermind, let's go before it get too dark."

"It's only half an hour past two. We have quite some time before sunset." Although Meixing is doing her best to keep a pace ahead of Sideswipe, there's only so much distance she can cover with short legs. Therefore, a few long strides is all it takes for Sideswipe to catch up, shit-eating grin plastered across his face. "So you have allll the time you need to detail just how much you missed me."

" _I hate you._ " She presses her hands over her cheeks, scowling as the parking lot came into sight. " _Why must you be the only friend I have with a car?_ "

"What'd I do~?" He hums. "I didn't do anything to provoke you this time. Your love warms my spark, it really does."

"Speaking in English will not make me less angry."

"You switched back."

"..." Meixing decides that speaking is only landing herself into a bigger hole. So, she turns her head amidst their fast walking and sticks her tongue out at him. Sideswipe tuts at her, lifting a finger and waving it.

"Now now, you're going down to a level lower than me. And that's saying something, especially given my, ah, notorious reputation among my peers."

She gives herself a moment to think about that. At first, she was going to retort with something more biting, such as how his reputation was probably that of an arrogant, self-centered and impulsive child who ― hm. Too harsh? Besides, after resolving a few misunderstandings, he has... been a bit different. Meixing slows down her pace, now at a normal walking speed as she gives a contemplative glance towards Sideswipe.

No... it isn't that he's different. He's still confident and boastful, never afraid to brag about himself ― those were traits that he exhibited at their first meeting. That impulsive aggression he showed her before though... now she understands.

To protect the people he's loyal to, she supposes anyone can do drastic thing. She laughs to herself, putting her hands behind her back as Sideswipe falters in his gloating of his 'reputation' to give her a puzzled glance.

"I didn't make any jokes, so why are you laughing..."

"No reason," she responds. She notices that he's matched his pace to hers again. What a strange man. Meixing beckons for Sideswipe to lower his head, acting as if she has something to tell him. Curiously, he complies, watching as she lifts a hand... and flicks his forehead.

"Hey!"

"Payback."

He gives her a pointed look, to which she returns with a steely expression of her own, but in a matter of seconds they both cannot maintain the stare-down ― they both laugh; Meixing's laugh is more reticent, one hand covering her mouth as if she had been taught to keep her expression to a minimum so as to not be a bother to others, and Sideswipe's is more forthcoming, hands on both his hips as if he's much more accustomed to sharing his happier emotions with other people.

"Thank you," she says. Her visage is lighter than her usual impassive look. "For cheering me up."

He winks at her. "Anything for my good friend. Now, let's get your novels and school whatnots?"

"School supplies," she corrects, rolling her eyes playfully. "And I'm the one who is supposed to be with language barrier."

Sideswipe spins on a heel, dramatically motioning to his car. "Just thought I'd explore some new words." He takes a few extra steps ahead of Meixing so he can open the passenger's door for her. "As the huma ― er, saying goes, ladies first."

Meixing stops a few feet away, arms crossed over her chest as she pretends to ruminate over the decision. "Let me see..."

He pouts. "You know you waaaannnt... uh?"

"Do I really want to?" She grins, not quite catching the change in tone of Sideswipe's voice. When she takes a step, however, there's a vice-like grip on her wrist and she yelps, whipping her head around to see who had just grabbed her. The hostility in her expression dissipates instantaneously when she sees the familiar face.

"Mama...?"

Her mother looks frazzled. Her normally neat black hair looks like she had run her hands through it multiple times without bothering to comb it down. In one hand is her daugher's wrist, and in the other hand is a large white cloth that's stained with scorch marks.

Meixing recognizes the cloth immediately, but in her mind swirls a storm of things she's puzzled by. She doesn't know what she wants to ask first.

" _There you are,_ " Lihua hisses out. " _We need to talk._ "

"Mama," Meixing mutters in response. Her cheeks now flush red from frustration, sparing the man behind her one glance. " _You could have called._ "

" _No. This is not a matter for the phone._ " Her mother lifts up the white cloth and presses it harshly to Meixing's torso. " _What is this and where did you get it?_ "

Meixing frowns. She loves her mother and respects her family, but even this is a breach of privacy that she should be entitled to. " _This was in my room. You aren't supposed to be going through my things? How did you even find me?_ " Another pause. " _Can we talk somewhere else? I don't want to trouble my friend._ "

At the mention of an audience, Lihua moves her head to fully observe Sideswipe, who stands there stiffly. His gaze is focused on the cloth as well, and it seemed like there's a thin veil of realization that dawns upon his gaze, darkening it from his earlier friendly glow.

" _Fine. Let's go._ " Lihua doesn't give another thought to Sideswipe though. She merely turns on her heels and begins to drag Meixing along. The movement seems to startle Sideswipe and without thinking, he reaches out and grabs onto Meixing's shoulder.

Both women stop at the sudden force.

" _Excuse me, ma'am._ " He smiles weakly at the stunned look Meixing gives him. Still, what could he say? It's not like he has any right to stop them; it's a mother-daughter discussion and he has no place in it as an outsider. However, when her mother appeared, Meixing looked just as frazzled... and he didn't like it. " _You're hurting her. If you're going to talk, please lead her more gently._ "

Lihua looks towards the grip she has on Meixing's wrist and her stern look softens. She sighs, letting go of her daugher's arm and nodding towards Sideswipe.

" _Thank you,_ " she says. " _Hopefully, it will be a short talk. Maybe you will have time later to talk._ "

Meixing doubts that. Still, she turns to Sideswipe for a moment and bows her head to him.

" _... I, too, thank you._ " She murmurs, before turning back and following after her mother. He watches the two leave with bated breath, looking at the hand he used to stop Meixing. It isn't his place... but now, it's also a matter of the Autobot's security. Hopefully, with the listening bug he placed on her shoulder, he can protect the Autobots... and her from any potential harm.

Because he doubts the conversation they're about to have is one typical of a parent-child one.

"Meimei," Lihua starts, once they rest in a place where Meixing knows is not common for students to stop by. Meixing's head is bowed to her mother, lips pressed together and awaiting any instruction from her parent. " _Tell me what that is._ "

" _The remains of a parachute._ " Even as she speaks, she does not dare raise her head.

" _Where did you get it?_ "

" _Shanghai._ "

" _How did you get it?_ "

" _It fell._ "

" _Where did it fall from?_ "

" _The sky._ "

Meixing can sense her mother's exasperation. But, even if it is her mother, she cannot reveal the secret of her beloved hero so easily. Her grip tightens on the white cloth, as if it would disappear at any moment.

" _Wang Meixing. I am running out of patience. Look at me._ "

Weakly, she does. In her mother's eyes is fear, desperation, anger.

" _You need to tell me now. How much do you know?_ " Lihua reaches forward and grasps both of Meixing's shoulders. " _I saw it. That... that symbol. That red face._ "

She would shrink back more where she stood, if she could. Her dedication to _**Héng Pào** _ is important, of course, but her entire life is also dedicated to being a good daughter.

Meixing's breathing becomes more labored, still biting her tongue in spite of the pressure.

" _Meimei, how could you be on the side of those monsters?_ "

No, that's not right. Meixing lifts her head and shakes her head, a frown creasing automatically in response. " _Monsters? Mama, what are you talking about?_ " She presses forward. " _No, you know about these beings?_ "

" _Those monsters ―_ "

" _ **Mama!**_ "

"..."

" _Even I will raise my voice if you insult those who saved people's lives._ " Despite the blaze alight in her eyes, there's an apologetic hue to them as well. " _I'm sorry for raising my voice. But I also ― **look out!**_ "

She could see it coming from the peripheral of her vision. Reacting quickly, Meixing let out a shout and jumped at her mother, tumbling forwards a few feet while shielding the elder with her body. Rubble blanketed the side road and their bodies, with Meixing noticing that her leg was caught underneath it. Her mother lost consciousness below her, but relief settles in when she took note of Lihua's gentle breathing.

Looking behind her, with that white cloth nestled stubbornly in her hand, she meets gazes with a silver being donning glowing eyes similar to that day in Shanghai.

Ah... but those were not the eyes she had always looked forward to see. The eyes before her are red eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

A FAST UPDATE, I CAN'T BELIEVE MYSELF. honestly i just feel kinda bad saying i'd finish something and then leave it alone for months on end LOL so i guess a double update is to make up for it.

also, i drew meixing and sideswipe! it's only my tumblr, which is the same url as my username here (shameless promo)

not sure when the next update will be, but i'm crossing my fingers i don't tap out in the next month.

anyway, as always, feedback is super appreciated! i love reading ur comments uvu

* * *

Chapter Ten

Is she psyched out? Yes and no. Someone spare her.

* * *

And just like that, it vanishes. The being that greatly resembled the hostile version of her savior disappears and Meixing finds that her mother is waving a hand in front of her face. Lihua is fine, her earlier anger briefly easing when she had noticed that her daughter had a blank expression on her face.

Meixing turns her head. The buildings they're surrounded by are intact. But that explosion ― it had definitely happened! She feels her stomach sink lower, heartbeat accelerating as panic starts to overcome her mind. What had that been then? It felt real, she had moved to protect her mother, she _felt_ her legs trapped underneath the rubble.

" ― Meimei!"

Her face is grabbed, turned to face her mother whose countenance is stricken with fear. Ah. Her mother, those wrinkles that come with old age... at least she is alright. Meixing finds that her eye is twitching more so than usual, and she lifts a hand to cover it, an effort to ease the nerves that must have triggered it.

" _Sorry. Mama, what did you say earlier?_ " She smiles weakly. Meixing wants to ask if her mother had also just hallucinated that terrible scenario, but she figures 'no' would be the answer anyway. By the looks of it, what Meixing just saw now was a fabrication from her overactive mind. Maybe her desire to see _**Héng Pào**_ had caused her to recreate the scenario from Shanghai that year ago. The cloth her mother brought to her must have made her nostalgic enough to do that.

Yes. That must be it. As an adult, Meixing must think rationally. _Be rational. Be rational, Meixing_. A mantra in her mind in order to calm down.

" _Tell me if you're fine first,_ " Lihua says. She's frowning and Meixing could almost laugh at how closely she must resemble her mother when frowning.

" _I'm fine._ " Meixing reaches up and lightly taps her mother's hands. Lihua removes her hands from her daughter's face at that, a moment of silence passing over to show her disbelief in her daughter's reassurance.

Then, she speaks again. " _Alright. My question remains the same. You need to tell me about this thing. Why do you not call them monsters?_ "

Meixing folds the cloth so that the symbol can be hidden. " _Everyone is not the same. There are good and bad people everywhere. It depends on your actions._ " She reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. " _Besides... Mama, I didn't realize we were going to have a discussion about morals._ " It's not like she had ever been interested before either.

" _That wasn't my intention,_ " she sighs. " _But if your morals explain your questionable actions, then so be it. Meimei, remember why you're here. You're here to go to school and become a doctor. This is the opportunity you could not have in China._ " Lihua takes a step back, eyeing the cloth in Meixing's grasp. " _Keeping that is bad news. And I don't want you involved with that anymore._ "

Meixing remains quiet. However, her grip tightens on the cloth protectively. " _I wasn't involved before. It's just a souvenir. You didn't answer me earlier too. How do you know about them, Mama?_ "

" _I don't,_ " she retorts sharply. " _I don't know anything. We don't know anything. We aren't supposed to know anything. Meimei, you are being very stubborn. I want you to get rid of that._ "

She doesn't look Lihua in the eyes for another moment. Silently, she contemplates her answer, and her mother's foot tapping on the ground is proof that refusing the request will not spell out positively for the younger woman.

Meixing lifts her gaze, meeting her mother's eyes. " _I will._ "

With those words, Lihua's entire body relaxes at once. She smiles, her wrinkled countenance washed over with relief and joy as she nods in approval. " _Good. My obedient daughter._ " Lihua claps her hands together. " _Did you eat? Oh! Perhaps you were going to eat with that friend of yours? I hope he is still waiting. Our talk wasn't as long as I anticipated for it to be._ " Once the anger has faded away, her mother returns to being much more talkative. Another glance is given to the cloth, but she trusts that her daughter will find some way to get rid of it without leaving a trace.

"... No, I ate already." Meixing shakes her head. "He was going to take me to get supplies for school. If you want to eat together though, Mama, then I don't mind."

" _Aiyah,_ " she sighs. " _I would like to get to know him together, you know, you never showed any interest in boys before university, but now here you are, going off with your new friends. But I must return back to the restaurant. I was just cleaning your room for you and left in a hurry when I found that._ "

" _Ah._ " Meixing turns to the side. " _Alright, I'll walk you to your car then, Mama._ "

" _There's no need for that._ " Her mother waves off the offer. " _You need to hurry and get rid of that thing before meeting your friend! Walking me will take too much time! Go, go now!_ " The elder nudges her daughter lightly.

" _If you say so,_ " she mutters. Lihua smiles, giving her daughter a wave before turning on her heel and walking off. " _Oh, wait. Mama._ "

She stops.

" _How did you manage to find me anyway?_ "

" _Oh, that._ " Lihua laughs. " _Your baba and I installed a tracking application in your phone. Well, we hired someone to do it since we're still hopeless with all this new technology._ " She points to her own smartphone. " _Don't worry, I only use it for emergencies. I'll try not to be too nosy from now on. I trust you, my daughter._ "

Meixing watches the elder leave, and once her mother's back disappears from her sight, Meixing sighs heavily and sinks to the ground, the grass digging sharply into her legs. She places the folded cloth onto her lap, gazing upon it with a solemn look in her eyes.

The first lie she's told her mother in a while. Digging into the pocket of her hoodie, Meixing pulls out her phone and gives it a glare. If only this blasted thing wasn't real...! Ah, but if her mother hadn't found her, then who knows what she would have done with the parachute.

She holds it closer to her torso, as if afraid it would slip from her fingers again. She had thought it would be safe in her room back at home, but it seemed like her mother's cleaning habit hadn't died in the least. That, and she knew Lihua tended to be more nosy than most others. Her study partners all said the same thing about their moms too... dully, she wonders if it's a cultural thing.

Well, whatever. With her mother gone, now she can finally focus on the worrisome situation she had been placed in earlier. That explosion, her unconscious mother, her own legs. She places a hand on one of her legs and squeezes, feeling its warmth under the pressure she places on it.

Maybe it's sleep deprivation? That's right. She's just been too tired lately. Combining the factors of her wish to see her savior along with lack of sleep created something that almost gave her a heart attack. Wonderful. At this rate, she may as well admit that she's going to start seeing more things. Especially Sideswipe waving excitedly with a stupid grin on his face and ―

Oh. Wait. That's not an illusion this time. He's calling her name and running over. Meixing shakes her head quickly, getting up from the ground and brushing off pieces of grass from her legs.

"Hey," he greets, slowing down to a walking pace when he comes within a few feet of her. "I saw your mom walk off, so I figured it was alright for me to come over now." Then he stops a few inches away, a look of concern on his face. "You don't look well. Are you alright?" His gaze isn't on her face necessarily; it drifts down to what she's been holding in her hands for a while.

Meixing sighs. "Even you ask that now? I wonder how bad I look."

"Huh? I mean, you look nice and all! It's just, you're kinda pale and you look like you just saw a ghost."

She wants to correct him, 'it was just a figure of speech', but she settles for just shaking her head in amusement. "Maybe I did. Anyway, I have a favor to ask."

Sideswipe tilts his head curiously. "What is it?"

Meixing hesitates before slowly lifting her arms, moving forward and pressing the white cloth into Sideswipe's chest. "Please... take care of this for me."

"Take care?" His eyes widen. "I thought it was something important to you? You want me to get rid of ―"

"No!" She raises her voice, hands curling into a fist and thus grasping the cloth and part of Sideswipe's clothes. "Do not. Do that. You right. Is very important." A look of desperation crosses her features. "Take care means protect. Not get rid of. Didn't know it meant something else in English."

He, too, relaxes when she explains herself. Now Meixing just wonders if communication is the root of all her problems right now.

"Oh, that'll make sense." Nervously, he laughs and rubs the back of his neck. Then he gives a nod, reaching up and grasping the cloth. "You have my word. I'll, er, protect it. When do you want it back?" He gives it a tug so that she doesn't have to keep holding it against him, but finds that her grasp remains tight and it refuses to leave her grip.

She purses her lips. "Hmm... whenever I have no roommate, I guess. Not something that Rachie should see."

"That makes sense." Another tug. Another refusal. "Xiao xing, you're not letting go."

Meixing jumps, letting go suddenly and taking a step back. "Sorry."

Sideswipe grins, reaching out and casually brushing her shoulder. A little too harshly, as if he's trying to get rid of something. "It's okay."

"... Why are you touching me."

"No reason." He laughs nervously. "But you know, this sure is nostalgic. This is the parachute you mentioned in your story, right?"

She nods. "This parachute be the reason why you turned weird." She still doesn't understand the significance of it though. The strange symbol is something unique, for sure, but she doesn't know what it means. For Sideswipe though, it seems like it's an identifying factor... and an important one too, if he had initially thought she would be endangering his country by holding that knowledge. "But now, it is alright. With you, everything will be fine."

He arches an eyebrow. "Wow, didn't think you'd have that much faith in me~"

"I mean, you will guard it just fine," she corrects.

"So cold~" He hums. "You're the type who hides her true feelings, right? I understand."

At this point, she knows it's futile to argue with a stubborn person like him. "You wrong." That doesn't mean she'll stop trying though. "Does your offer to drive me still available? I understand if my mother visit waste time though."

"Nah, it's fine." He swings the parachute over his shoulder, careful to keep the symbol hidden. "We can go now."

Meixing glances at her phone. No response in the group text either. She sighs. "Thanks. Let's go then."

"You keep looking at your phone." As they walk back towards his car, he glances at her. "Are you expecting a call or something?"

"No," she replies. "I want to, if possible. But have a feeling my group will be trouble. They don't respond to me."

"Ehh." He frowns. "Group... is it for school?"

"Yes, a group project." Meixing keeps her gaze forward, shoving her phone back into her sweatshirt pocket. "Might turn into solo project. I don't trust them if they would ditch on first planned meeting."

"While I agree that working on your own can be easier..." He walks a few paces faster so that he can reach the passenger's door ahead of Meixing, opening it and tossing the parachute in the back. "I've learned the hard way that taking things on your own when it's meant to be done with other people can be rough."

"Oh?" She wrinkles her nose. "What kind of lesson?" Giving a nod to show her gratitude, she slips into the passenger's seat with ease. He closes the door when she's settled and quickly makes his way to the other side.

"Err... it was during a battle." His tone of voice is sheepish. "I disobeyed my boss' orders and attacked the enemy by myself. Got busted up pretty badly... even more so by our medic after though, if I'm honest."

"... Your medic? A medic is supposed to heal."

"Yeeeeah... not our medic."

"You should report him," she says. Meixing looks around the car, attempting to find the seat belt. Once she found it, she tugs it over and clicks it, curious by how smoothly that went. Cars usually hated her...

"Trust me, I've complained a lot." He laughs. "Sometimes I have it coming though. And even if he's a grump, Hatchet does his job well. So it's fine. Everyone knows how he's like anyway." Sideswipe starts the car, giving his passenger a wide grin. "Talking about him is so boring though. Now here's something fun! Are you ready for your first ride in the best car in the world?"

Meixing looks around, observing the pristine interior carefully. "Best car... why?"

"Because it's me! Er, my car! That's why! Hahaha..." Did he cover that up well? With a nervous laugh, he takes off from his spot with a loud screech.

She wrinkles her nose. "Expensive cars are always scary. I worry about getting them dirty or damaging somehow. Also, drive safely."

"You'll be fine. Besides, aren't you psyched to ride in something as popular as this?" He waves off her warning, but does slow down a little as he pulls onto the road.

"Popular...?" She gives him a wary look. "Do not know much about cars. Is this one of those unnecessarily expensive cars?" Like, extremely so.

"Hmm." He hums. "About a hundred thousand?" Not that he paid for it, but apparently humans placed a high value on this type of car. The most fitting for him indeed.

On the other hand, Meixing chokes on her spit, hitting her chest to try and regain her breath. "That so close to how much my school tuition cost for a year. What good does expensive car do? My goodness."

He pouts. "What, do you not like it?"

She cringes. "Well... of course, beautiful things must be appreciated. But spending unnecessary money..." Meixing gives the interior another inspecting glance. "I guess your military work pays well."

"You could say that." Beautiful is a good compliment. He likes it. Though she'll probably think that his beaming smile is weird. After all, who gets excited over a compliment paid to their car? "But relax and enjoy the ride~"

Meixing sighs, leaning back in her chair and directing her gaze to the window. Indeed, it's not often that she'll get the opportunity like this. Still, if someone like him can make so much money like this, then why is he replacing someone's duty at a university like this? It seems so menial.

Ah... well, it's none of her business anyway. Closing her eyes, she decides to take his advice and escape to a world where she didn't have to worry about group projects and interacting with people.

It's only a twenty minute ride, but when Sideswipe is gently shaking her awake, she feels like hours have passed since she closed her eyes. She yawns, covering her mouth as she squints at the office supply store.

"I will not take long. You can wait in car." Opening the door, she wobbles just slightly as she steps out. Closing the door requires a bit more effort than usual, as Meixing stands still few a while longer in order to wake herself up fully.

"Why are you always~ pushing me awayyyy~?" Sideswipe sings, spinning on his heel as he makes his way over to Meixing.

"... I was being considerate." Okay. His offkey singing has definitely snapped her awake. "If you no stop, I will proceed to ignore you."

"You break my heart, you know~"

"Didn't think you had one."

"Okay. That one actually hurt."

"Sorry."

Soft reminder to himself: she _really_ holds grudges.

But it's okay! Sideswipe has already resolved to tap more into his inner self. Being friendly suits him much more than pushing those humans away, after all. Besides, she's the link to learning more about humans and absolving all his previous grievances against them.

"I think I have everything." She peers into the bag, double-checking all her supplies. "Just need to go to bookstore. Nearest one is down the street." She squints. "Sideswipe, we can just walk. No need to waste gas."

"Huh? You sure?" He follows her gaze. True, it's not that far a walk, but if they have a car, they may as well use it, right? The distance isn't really a problem for him, whether it's driving or walking... so he supposes that it doesn't really matter.

"Yeah. Exercise will do me good." Then without another moment's consideration, she sets off for the crosswalk, causing Sideswipe to vocalize another protest about leaving him behind.

"Let me carry your things."

"Is fine."

Right. Stubborn little girl. He shakes his head, reaches over and gives a forceful tug on her bags. Meixing lets out a grunt but doesn't fight it otherwise. As they walk and come to a stop at the crosswalk to wait for the pedestrian light to turn, Meixing turns her head to Sideswipe.

"Can I ask a question?"

"You just did."

She kicks his heel. He doesn't flinch at all. However, at least he has enough remorse to look vaguely guilty about his response.

"Sorry, couldn't pass that up. But back to being serious, what do you need to ask?"

The light turns white, signalling the pedestrians to walk. Meixing rubs her forehead, stepping onto the street as soon as the light changes. "Seriously... you hurt my head a lot sometimes."

"Haha~" He grins, readjusting the grip on the bags. "It means you're thinking about me!" He begins to walk after her, despite the fact that she has a small head start. He can catch up to her without a problem, though there's just a slight concern she might turn around and elbow him if he went near her right now.

"Unfortunately," she responds dryly, stopping when she's on the other side so he can catch up. In the distance, there's a loud road of an engine. She pays it no heed, crossing her arms across her torso as she relents and gives him a smile. "But as for my question, I ― "

One moment, he's halfway across the crosswalk. The next, he's pulling her away from the curb, letting out a yell as his arms come tightly across her smaller frame. Meixing blinks, stunned by what had just happened. How did Sideswipe move so fast? Why is he yelling so loudly? He sounds angry.

Meixing feels him pulling away, grabbing her shoulders as he asks questions. People are already gathering, whispering about what had just happened. But her ears are ringing and she can barely understand what they were trying to say to her.

"... Xing! Meixing!" Finally, after what seems like an eternity, Sideswipe's voice becomes clearer. He looks desperate. Worried. Angry. "Say something! Are you alright?! _Frag_ , I'm sure he did that because of me...!"

Dazed, she reaches up and gives Sideswipe a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Her arm's trembling though, and her touch serves to whip his gaze back to her face. "... I'm fine. Just... it was loud."

"I'm so sorry," he says, voice dropping to nearly a whisper. The amount of guilt he has on his countenance is confusing. "You almost... I couldn't..."

"Miss!" Her hearing clears up enough so that the onlooker's voices also filter in. "Your leg is bleeding!"

"Huh?!" Sideswipe pulls back from her completely, gaze curving downwards immediately. Meixing slowly follows suite, tilting her head at the bright red gash on her thigh.

"Wow... that person drove so fast it made hole in pants. These are new jeans too."

"Be more concerned about your wound! Your _**wound**_!"


	11. Chapter 11

I RISE FROM THE DEAD mostly because i recently got my muse back from transformers... and also i saw that new trailer for the bumblebee movie coming out in 2018

i only have two things to say about that: one) it looks adorable but two) we all know it resembles any oc x (any autobot) fic incLUDING MINE I AM NOT SPARED FROM THE CHEESE and i just wonder how close they really are to discovering the deep dark secrets of our fandom

anyway! without further delay, here's the next chapter! thank you all for your support uvu an for your patience! i promise the plot will start picking up more from here~

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Saving money is more important than life itself.

* * *

With his hands gripping her shoulders, she thought they would break under his grip. Though it is painful, she knows he's only doing it out of concern, thus she refrains from taking defensive action. Rather, her smaller hands reaches up and covers his, fingers curling into his palm in an attempt to loosen his grip.

"Sides, I am okay." She repeats, despite the fact that she's letting out a hiss every time someone touches her knee. Meixing gives a sharp stare towards the paramedic, who asks for her to not talk or move around too much (again). Much to their chagrin, she continues to speak. "Well, pants not okay. Did anyone get license plate of car? I might sue them."

"That's not the point," he says in exasperation. "Someone tried to run you over!"

Meixing shrugs. "Happens in China all the time." A matter of fact statement, that anyone else would agree with if they were from the same area. Unfortunately, with America being a hub of safe driving and spacious areas, being run over is likely illegal. Of course, in China it is illegal to run someone over, but it happens so often that most of the people have grown indifferent to it.

Sideswipe purses his lips, staring off in the direction that the car drove in. "Alright, that's kinda concerning, but nonetheless..." He recognizes the signal of the car that had come by, and though first responders have come in lieu of the event, there really is nothing else that can be done. The car that had driven by was unable to be captured and all the property damages would have to be up to the city to take care of.

The only real injury of concern is the student in question, whose compliance battles her need to purchase the required textbook for her class. Persistent protest — "There is sale for book, if not get, blame only you!" — before her knees are wrapped with linen. That being done, she turns around and begins stomping off to the bookstore, determined to fight for the last book.

"Meixing, they need to question you!" Though unfamiliar with the customs of human law enforcement, the police officers' reaction to her stubbornness is enough for Sideswipe to gather the pieces.

She raises an arm, palm facing towards the crowd as she hisses through the pain. "Talk after! Sale now!"

Sideswipe lifts an eyebrow, rubbing the back of his neck as he glances from the officers towards the direction of the bookstore. Even he isn't one to give out apologies so easily, yet there's a compelling apologetic glance to be given on behalf of the girl. On the other hand, he also counts as a witness, though he isn't sure that this is a crime humans are equipped to solve. After answering questions from the officers, much to his chagrin, he turns his attention away from the dispersing crowd, pressing a hand to his ear and activating his communication links in his processor.

" _Anyone in right now?_ " Lips remain unmoving, voice is channeled through the mind for the sake of secrecy, brows crease into a frown to reflect his mood. " _I just had a run-in with a Decepticon._ "

* * *

Half an hour of arguing with international students about textbook prices, Meixing finally emerges victorious. Although it had been daunting for the police officers to follow in after her, something about time and wasting it, the young woman's face is nothing short of prideful. Abandoned by her group members and having her jeans ruined, she deserves this kind of victory for once, right?

Complete with those affairs, she waddles outside in search of Sideswipe. He hasn't taken initiative to look for her, to which she can only assume that he's preoccupied otherwise. Finding the brunet standing off to the side and staring blankly in the distance, Meixing can only snort in surprise.

A blank look suits him far more than whatever arrogance he usually plants on his face. Tilting her head to the side, the idea for another prank flutters into her mind. Should she scare him? But if she did, he would definitely find a way to retaliate, and Meixing isn't keen on living in mild paranoia for the rest of her days.

Afraid? As if! Lips curl into a scowl as she shakes the thought out of her head. Whatever, she'll be civil to him just this once. Marching up to him, mindful of her throbbing knees, she reaches up and places a firm pat on his back.

His reaction is immediate and _maybe_ she put too much force than intended, but the moment the impact between her palm and his back happened, Sideswipe swivels around and swings a fist at her. In response, Meixing takes a step back and grabs a hold of his forearm, pulling it downwards in a last-ditch attempt to refrain from her instinct of flipping him over.

"Meixing?" His shock channels through his voice and he immediately relaxes. "Primus — don't sneak up on me!"

Right, military training. Still, his skillset is impressive and her mouth forms a small 'o' in admiration. "This is how Americans train soldiers? Un, very efficient." She even squeezes his arm, as if she could tell all the techniques he learned in that single arm. Of course she can't, but imagining it gets her more enthusiastic to learn more about that.

Accordingly, it brushes up Sideswipe's boastfulness. "Actually, it's how I trained myself. Of course I had help from my superior officers and all, but this technique is alll me." Posing for effect with his free arm, he gives a playful wink to the smaller woman. "How's that? You admire me more now?"

Her nose crinkles at the thought. "Eh, I admire your skill. Not same."

"It is the same," he counters. "You're even feeling up my, uh, muscles!"

"Am not!"

Indignantly, he vehemently waves his free hand at the arm continuously grasped by Meixing's hands. She lets go immediately, rubbing her palms on her shirt.

"That was for experiment." She huffs. "Fair enough. Though believe that military skill can be unpolished compare to my martial arts."

He arches a brow, placing both hands on his hips before leaning forward, smirk spread on his countenance as he eyes Meixing's challenging expression. "Really now? You wanna test out that theory?"

The black-haired student crosses her arms across her torso, lifting her chin up and ignoring the tumble of the plastic bag containing her textbooks. "If not out to kill, maybe. I learn self-defense, and though it not compare to military lethal offense, I can defend myself against you." For emphasis, despite the obvious difference in their frames, she reaches out and provocatively pokes his chest. She would dare to challenge him to a fight, though she's crossing her fingers internally that he knows it's meant to be a friendly bout. The years she's spent in _wushu_ have not been for competitive purposes, merely self-defense. Putting it into action had never been necessary until recently, but she's eager to see what kind of fighting techniques Sideswipe usually employed in his fights.

Then he laughs and reaches up, grasping the finger that poked him and shifting his grip so that his fingers can wrap around her smaller hand easily. "Feisty, but I don't fight outside of combat." Lowering her hand so that she can be less imposing, he simply grins at her.

"Are you or not a warrior?"

"Hmm, 'course I am. And don't get me wrong, Xiao xing — " Her begrudging expression doesn't go unnoticed. " — I'm not underestimating you just because you're small. It's a rule of ours. We don't fight outside of a battle. Training is a different matter, but... you aren't a warrior. So leave the fighting to the people who will protect you."

She arches an eyebrow, pulling her hand from his grasp. Not that she particularly minded it, she just has to get more used to how these Americans were so openly expressive in their body language and personal space. "I know you military are strong, but sometimes citizens must protect themselves too."

"I'm very certain you can hold your own too." He shakes his head. "But that's not what I mean. I guess it's a long story and a lesson I learned the hard way, but anyway." He looks around. "You got your books, right? Let's get you back to campus."

"Don't want," she mutters. "Means have to start on project." Blasted group members that still haven't responded yet. She'll be sure to give them an earful later. She's sure her eye twitching is because of her annoyance, so she can't wait to vent it out.

"You running away from your responsibilities~?" Sideswipe holds up the bags of various supplies she bought before their little incident at the crosswalk. Now, she has to wonder where exactly he pulled them from, when she had just about to begin wondering where he put them after that fiasco. God, thinking too much about this strange man isn't good for her health.

"Nevermind, will do work." Sighing, she veers away from his smile and begins to make her way back to where he parked.

"If you don't mind..." Keeping in stride with her, he glances around them again. "I'll accompany you the entire day. For safety."

"You sure it not because you just wish to bother me?" Rolling her eyes, the excuse is hardly passable; if she knows Sideswipe, the only reason he'll trouble himself is if because it entertains him.

"Well, that too." He hums, deciding that her disbelief is better than her figuring out the real reason. After all, she would probably insist otherwise, that she can take care of herself and she didn't want to keep him from his duties.

Stopping at the corner, Meixing sighs and bends over to rub her knees. "Have to throw pants away now, lamentable."

"Does it hurt?" He peers curiously at her, only looking up once to check on the light.

"It does. It really does." Her reply is said without hesitance and there's grief laced with her words.

"I see." Without a second thought, Sideswipe readjusts his grip on the bags' handles in order to pull them higher. Then he reaches over and sweeps Meixing into his arms with ease, to which she lets out a screech.

"I meant wallet hurts! Bank account hurts!" Flailing her legs and arms around, she realizes that doing so aggravates her wound, thus making them hurt more than they actually didn't before. Well, too late to take it back now. Though she is a stubborn person, she knows that if she tries to push herself off, it'll just impede both of them.

Settling down with a pout, she casts her gaze away from Sideswipe.

"You are shameless."

"I get that a lot."

"I no have any face left," she mumbles, bringing the bags she's carrying up to cover her expression.

"Your face is still here?"

"It a metaphor, a metaphor." Or is it really the correct way to translate the word she's thinking of? Eh, close enough.

By the time she's done lamenting her pants (and her reputation), she's being placed into the passenger seat of Sideswipe's car. Glad that the obstacle is taken care of, she relaxes and decides to start reading the novel she bought, leaving the textbook aside for now. Sideswipe had told her that he needed a few more minutes to talk to someone, so he was going to wait outside. Meixing glances up occasionally to see Sideswipe staring off in nothing in particular, only holding a hand to his ear occasionally. Was it a wireless headphone? Squinting, she does notice a small black device nestled in his ear.

"Huh. Was that there before?" Must have pulled that out when she wasn't looking. Shrugging, she shifts her gaze back to the novel. Nonchalance can only go so far though; her thoughts are preoccupied with her near-encounter with death today.

Meixing didn't believe in coincidence. Superstition has been something that guided her beliefs up to this day, and she believes everything happens according to fate or reason. Still, she cannot fathom why or how a car would attempt to aim for her. Could it be that in her previous life, she angered a motor spirit, which is why she's been a magnet for roadkill? Karmic retribution is a scary thing. It's a wonder she had been able to hold herself together... though in truth, she really is worried about the cost of replacing the jeans.

Sighing heavily, she plunks her back against the seat. "How tiring. If get into another motor accident here, might not hear end of it." It's already expensive enough to pay for her living expenses here, as well as international student fees that were taxing on her family's income. Though they did have enough money to support it, she didn't want to rely any more on her parents than she already has. Though they insist that the focus on her education would be worth the payoff from the assets of their restaurant business, it's still a bit troubling... and if she added hospital bills on top of that, it would truly be a loss of her face.

The driver door opens, startling Meixing from her thoughts as Sideswipe slides into his seat. His expression looks rather grim, veiled with a bated curiosity, and she wonders if he has something he wants to say.

"Sides, you okay...?" She frowns, reaching out and lightly patting his shoulder. He turns his head, gives her a thin smile and lightly pats the back of her hand.

"I'm fine. Let's get going."

* * *

When he said he was going to accompany her the entire day, he was surely not joking. And Meixing somewhat expected that he wouldn't go back on his words, but still, she can never fathom how he can never be sick of bothering her or seeing what she did.

Her days on campus were always the same. Study, do homework, get food, maybe go to the library for research, and study some more. The days he wasn't there were the days where she sometimes attended study groups, but other than that, it really is quite... embarrassing? To have him see almost every aspect of her life.

"Why aren't you in any clubs?" He asks curiously, leaning back on his chair as he watches Meixing plan out the research method for that aforementioned, yet foreboding, group project. "I hear Sam complaining that he has to join as many clubs as he can so he can do this thing called networking."

Meixing pauses. Puts down her pencil, biting her lip, and then glancing at the trash can a few feet away. "English not good enough, afraid cannot communicate well."

"Your English is fine?" Now that has him sitting up, giving Meixing a look that told her he thought she's merely jesting. On that same note though, she would think he's also jesting.

"Not serious," she snorts. "Maybe is fine around people I comfortable with." Pressing a hand to her chest, she hits it softly. "It gets worse when put on the spot. Sometimes I cannot think of right words. Many times I feel like mistake is made." She shakes her head. "I do my best, I think I made a few acquaintances while here. But am most comfortable with other Chinese students." It's the same across the board for all international students. They did their best to learn the language here, but even then, they know it isn't perfect.

Afraid of getting judged, knowing their accent and grammar is far inferior to the natives here, she wonders if he's ever experienced that kind of anxiety. "You speak both perfectly. No accent, clear pronunciation." She notes, a smooth effort to change the topic. "Why did you learn?"

For someone like him, how could he answer that question? Knowing every language on the web, every resource at hand; though human machines are far from perfect, it's the machine that he is which makes up for the flaws that would otherwise appear in the linguistics.

"For fun," he says. "And to talk with... more people." Not that he actively sought out everybody to talk to in a different language, but the options were there. He presses his lips together though, troubled, uncertain what to say next.

Meixing gives a small smile, closing the notebook and shaking her head. "Did not tell you that for your sympathy. Worry not, I know you have your own struggles." Exhaling, she slides her belongings into her backpack. "But I guess, told you to show my gratefulness. In all the time you spend with me, however _excessive_... you never made fun of me."

He blinks owlishly, the thought having never occurred to him. He, the one notorious for his easygoing attitude, had actually never messed up once on that kind of thing? Though Sideswipe knows of his personality traits, and if anything malicious were to be said, it (probably) wouldn't be on purpose, but... it is a surreal thing to realize, that he didn't joke about that. Vaguely, he does recall one comment, back to their first textual conversation.

When he had asked why her English was suddenly better over words. Didn't that count as making fun of her though? Or at least, something on that wavelength.

"Ah, well, that's how perfect I am." If she isn't holding a grudge for that, he supposes it's best to not bring it up. Thus, he stretches and gives his trademark grin.

Meixing rolls her eyes. "Un, yes, what would you be without perfection?"

"Not **me** ," he affirms.

"Quiet yourself," she retorts, lifting her bottom from the seat in order to take a swing at his stupidly perfect face —

"Make me," he taunts. To present that challenge even more, he decidedly grabs her wrist long before its collision — as if he would let it hit, of course — and tugs her from her seat even farther. Upper body leaning uncomfortable on the metal table, Meixing stops functioning for a hot second; isn't he much more closer than he originally was? Personal space may have been a concept long lost to Sideswipe, but she is sure that he at least knew that a little distance is their customary interaction?

Oh boy, was this one of those moments in those corny Chinese dramas she sometimes binge-watched in high school? Absolutely not, she refused to partake in that! If only she could slap that stupid grin off his face and if his blue eyes could stop brightening so dramatically like that! Though Meixing cannot argue with that kind of aesthetic, it's very tempting to stare at longer.

"Uhh," an unfamiliar voice, though simultaneously familiar, pierces the silence. "Are we interrupting something?"

Meixing tears her arm from Sideswipe's grip, launching herself from her seat and turning to face whoever came with much fervor. "Not at all!" Heart palpitations imitating that of a chainsaw, she inhales and exhales, attempting to focus on who it was that was so bold to speak in that strange moment.

"Oh, you Sam." She realizes. "Not know the other two faces."

"I'm Mikaela." The unfamiliar female face moves forward, a very cunning smile on her lips as she reaches forward to shake Meixing's hand. "Very nice to finally meet you." Though her gaze isn't quite focused on Meixing; she notices that there's a very strange look from all three people directed towards the man sitting at the table behind her, who has been oddly silent.

Though for some reason, it suddenly feels very cold. Sam looks mildly petrified while Mikaela looks wholeheartedly amused. The third person, a boy, looks curious.

"Bumblebee," Sideswipe finally greets, standing up. The screech from the metal chair causes Sam to wince and Meixing to cringe, and though they can all imagine Sideswipe smiling his usual friendly greeting, there seemed to be something stiff in his words. "You came back quickly."

The boy, though inaccurate to call him a boy as he seems to be just around Sam's age, gives a small shrug. Then he lifts up an _aPad_ , to which Meixing curiously directs her attention to.

 _'I just came back, and with the report you sent Optimus, he decided I should be here, so here I am~ is this the girl you talked about?_ '

So, he cannot talk. This is Meixing's first time meeting someone like that, though tact would suggest for her to act as normal as possible. Just because it is unfamiliar does not mean she should act any different, for worry of accidentally offending him otherwise.

"I am called Meixing," she says, deciding to take the first step. "Nice to meet you, Mikaela." Returning the earlier greeting belatedly, she gives an apologetic look to the other, who merely smiles it off. "And you are a bumblebee...?"

"Bumblebee," Sideswipe corrects. "I think I mentioned it briefly before."

"Replacing the bee!" Meixing responds, with much more enthusiasm than expected. Sam snorts at that, patting Bumblebee's shoulder.

"'Bee, you hear that? Sides has been saying that he's replacing you."

Appalled, the blond youth furiously types on the aPad. ' _That's rude, Sideswipe!_ '

"No one would want to take your place in guarding Sam, 'Bee, that's alright."

"Hey! Who wouldn't want to protect this handsome face?"

"Sam, please, you're only fooling yourself."

"I thought you were on my side..."

"In any case — " Sideswipe interrupts. "I don't recall asking for backup. I had things under control here." A side glance to Meixing told him that she absolutely did not understand what was going on, other than that it probably was related to military efforts.

Thus, with that look, the Asian woman took a step back. "Um, since you all have things to talk about, I will go back to dorm now."

"Wait, Xiao xing," he says. "I appreciate it, but I just need to talk with 'Bee for a moment. Wait for me." Placing a hand on Bumblebee's shoulder, he nudges the blond off in the other direction. "In the meanwhile, Sam and Mikaela will keep an eye on you."

A brow arches at that. "An eye on me...? Why would they need to do that?"

"It's an, uh, expression!" Sam quickly sputters out. "For us to get to know each other better, since we haven't really had the time to sit and talk."

 _Well, I guess chasing you around for information isn't the best way to have a conversation._ Meixing muses to herself. _Or that one time you were begging Sideswipe to take you to the airport._

Hah. She really has to interrogate more about their relationship, because she can imagine it can only be an amusing story.

Mikaela has remained silent for the majority of the exchange, head tilted thoughtfully to the side. Taking note of how nervous the smaller girl seems to be, wringing her fingers together and keeping her body language reserved, Mikaela decides to sit down first.

"Here, you should sit here, Meixing." She offers, gesturing towards the seat next to her. "I think they'll be a while and I'm sure you're positively tired of Sides' company."

Why did Meixing feel like there's a teasing undertone to that? She's never good around pretty people, they make her nervous.

"Sure," she replies, an edge to her tone. "And uh, sorry if I seem like I glaring. My eye is a bit sore lately. English hard for me too, so sorry if mistake made."

"Nah, you're fine." Mikaela reassures. "Besides, practice makes perfect, right?"

Sam cautiously sits down as well, taking the hint that Mikaela wanted to be the one to lead with the questions. He watches as Meixing's eloquence seems to disappear, or at least, lessen as compared to the last times he's heard he speak.

"Sure, okay, good," she mutters.

"Perfect. We'll help you, don't worry. Then, here's a great conversation starter." Mikaela is in no rush. Thus, with a playful wink, she leans forward on her arms. "Who's cuter, 'Bee or Sides?"


End file.
